The chains of fate
by Kadington
Summary: 30 years after the original story line. Ichigo struggles against an unknown threat and the mistakes of the past are repeated but this time Ichigo is the one to give his powers away...
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Bleach. Nor do I really want to... I had this idea, figured I'd post it see if anyone likes it.

He moved as fast as he could; clutching the injury on the side his chest as he moved. The blood was seeping through his hands, and his mind was slowly become a fog but he continued to focus. This after all wasn't the first time in Kurosaki Ichigo's life that he had been impaled with a sword. Spinning around, he raised his cleaver shape weapon towards his attacker sending a burst of powerful energy from the tip of the blade before he spun around and dove for the ground.

The street of Karakura hadn't changed much, and he was thankful for that. He had spent the last 30 or so years up in soul society only coming back when invited by his family or friends. He lived a much different life then he had when he was fifteen. As his feet hit the concert street, his breaths came out in raspy bursts as he forced his body to move. Drawing up a map of his old home town in his mind, he tried to remember where he was before his world begun to spin. He continued to try and push his body onwards but slowly darkness started to settle in to his vision; until the last thing he remembered was falling before there was nothing…

"Wake up! Come on you don't want to die here do you shinigami?" A voice called through the darkness of Ichigo's mind.

A low groan escaped from the lips of the shinigami as he tried to move. Every fiber of his being hurt but again pain was something Ichigo was use to and as he opened his eyes he struggled to sit up. His vision was hazy and as he reached down, wet blood still soaked his side but not as much as before. He had been out for a while, but not too long. He was half surprised to be alive, and as he shook his head to clear out his vision he turned towards his would be savior.

The ally way was dark, only the light of the street lamp at one end offered any real hope at light. His savior was wearing dark clothes, a black hoodie and dark jeans. Even in the dark, his eyes caught a flash of purple under the dark hood his savior was wearing. A familiar type of purple… His gut seemed to tighten before he swiftly forced himself to his feet, grabbing onto the walls of the alley for support until the haze, his mind was still in disappeared.

"What are you trying to do?" The accusing voice from his savior rang behind him. "I know shinigami are already dead so are you trying to kill yourself a second time?"

Ichigo really didn't want to argue but he could tell his savior was female, which only seemed to intensify that feeling in his gut. Shaking his head once again, he vainly called out to the darkness in his mind as if expecting an answer only to hear nothing. It was the fact he didn't hear a snappy commit worried him more than his current condition. Something was wrong with him, more so then the large wound in his side.

"I don't know who you are but get out of here, it dangerous to be around me" Ichigo growled towards his savior as he stepped out onto the street.

"I can believe that with your injuries, but come on. I know someone who can help you" Ichigo's savior motioned with a wave of her hand.

Ichigo stared at his savior's boldness as his brow lowered and his signature trademark scowl appeared on his face. Didn't she realize someone was hunting him? Scoffing he staggered forward with all the grace of a man long drunk before steadied himself on a news paper stand. He had to get away from her, clearly she was spiritually aware and the fact she knew what a shinigami was seemed to say this was by far not her first paranormal contact.

"You don't understand, I'm being hunted and hanging around me could make you a target!" Ichigo tried to explain before he inhaled sharply his hand going towards his side.

His savior seemed to pause slightly at his words before she reached out and grabbed his hand. She didn't seem to care how much danger he was in. Reluctantly he was tugged by his hand before with a bit of his remaining strength he managed to free his hand glare daggers at his savior. His savior turned around reaching up pulling off her hood as her own deep violet eyes glared daggered back at him. In an instant, Ichigo recognized her face but his heart was all too quick to remind him of the impossibility of her appearance. The person who had that face was suppose to be dead…

"You're an idiot you know that! Just follow me alright and I'll get us somewhere safe" his savior once again took the sleeve of his shinigami robes and began to pull him along once again.

Ichigo didn't fight this time; he just didn't have the energy too. He had tough fight before this and now the thing that normally gave him the energy to continue on seemed to be somehow not working. His spiritual pressure just didn't have the same overwhelming feeling it normally did. He was growing weaker and for the first time he felt like maybe without his savior's help then possibility it would finally be the end of the man who was thought of as the hero of the winter war.

As he stumbled behind his savior, he almost feel over several times until she gave an aggravated noise and pulled him closer to her so he could use her as support. Ichigo wanted to shy away from the contact but he really wasn't in much of a position to refuse her help. He didn't know where they were going but his savior seemed to think it was going to be safe were ever she was bringing him. He could only pray that her idea of safe and his idea of safe were similar places.

He was finally beginning to recognize some of the streets they were heading down before the shill sound of hollow rang in the air. Just what he needed; a new threat to attract attention to himself. A frustrated noise echoed in the back of his throat before he forcefully pulled himself from his savior and grabbed Zangetsu from his back in one quick motion. As he staggered slightly, Ichigo set his feet wide apart to gain stable footing as his dark eyes scanned the sky for the white masked threat.

"A hollow? Damn this isn't a good time. Dad's out" His savior moaned behind him. "Are you an idiot, you can't fight that thing in your condition!"

Ichigo reached up rubbing his eyes before looking back at his savior. "Fool; it's a shinigami's job to protect souls from hollows, even if that means their lives" The determination in Ichigo voice was weaker then he would of wanted it to be. "Now get out of here,"

His savior snorted at the comment before shaking her head and heading off back down the street. Ichigo watched her go out of the corner of her eye before he turned his attention back to the sky. His grip on Zangetsu tightened as a creature that seemed to resemble a spider appeared in the heavens. The sword warmed in Ichigo hands a silently reminder that Zangetsu's spirit was there by his side. The hollow instantly spotted him and in a moment it was before the shinigami, licking its lips hungry.

"What a lucky day that I find such a meal as this already weak" The hollow purred with delight.

Ichigo clenched his jaw. "I will be no meal to you hollow" He drew up what little spiritual pressure that remained in his body and summoned his swords power. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

The attack erupted from the tip of his blade with deadly intent as it surged towards the hollow, but it quickly evaded to the left allowing the attack pass right by. The hollow gave a bit of a low chuckle before it sprung at Ichigo who quickly dodge to his right. As he appeared in a burst of shunpo across the street, harsh breaths escaped from Ichigo chest as his wound seemed to renew with bleeding and make his vision fuzzy once again. He was losing too much blood…

The hollow slowly turned his attention towards Ichigo, the manic grin on it hollow mask only seemed to intensify. It looked like a cat that had just cornered a mouse as it suddenly rushed forwards towards Ichigo hoping to end this game quickly. Ichigo bravely raised his cleaver shaped blade to guard himself from the oncoming hollow. As he braced himself for more pain something different happened as a blue explosion erupted in the space between him and the hollow and Ichigo was quickly grabbed from behind and pulled away.

A roar of pain echoed from the hollow from the explosion as the creature clawed at its face. Ichigo was just as surprised by the attack as the hollow had been it seemed and as he glance at his new savior he found it was the same girl as before. Ichigo's face registered confusion as the girl continued to pull him, playing with a small metal cylinder in her hand. The hollow seemed to recover, quickly turning its attention back towards the shinigami and the girl. It gave a frustrated roar and charged forwards after the pair.

"What are you doing?!" Ichigo shouted at the girl. "That thing might kill us both now!"

"You are the most foolish person I have ever met!" She growled at him before she spun around and threw the cylinder. "Tilt the goblet to the west - Emerald Grail! Wolke"

Ichigo watched as the cylinder exploded once again in the hollows face and Ichigo had the haunting feeling he had seen this attack before. Where his brain didn't seem to want to remember but then again his memory wasn't the best with the blood loss, and it was only as the girl pulled out another cylinder did Ichigo catch the symbol embedded upon the silver canister. It was the symbol of the Quincy…

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked.

"Just someone who can see spirits" His savior replied before she pulled him around a corner.

The hollow followed, it rage about being attack and it's hunger spurring the creature to want nothing more than to want Ichigo and his savior dead and in its belly. Letting go of Ichigo, his savior turned around to face the hollow pulling out three cylinders at once as they seemed to glow blue in her hands. Ichigo stumbling forward collapsing on the ground from lack of support, a grunt of pain escaping his mouth as he quickly turned his eyes towards the hollow and his savior. She seemed to be chanting something but all that the hollow saw was an opening. Ichigo heart froze before with his remaining bit of strength he got to his feet and appeared in front of his savior just as the hollow's claws shot forward like bullets impaling him. The second Ichigo had bought his savior seemed to be enough for her to finish the chant and for the cylinder to explode from her hand wrapping the hollow in a strange silver barrier with a large quincy cross upon it.

Ichigo fell to his knees expecting to hit pavement but found himself in his savior's arms. She slowly lowered him to sitting position propping him up against a fire hydrant. At the movement a hiss of pain escaped him but he took a deep breath and sighed. A loud thump was heard from the container in which his savior had trapped the hollow in meaning it wouldn't last long. Looking at the girl, her eyes shifted to the metal trap before looking back at Ichigo, concern appearing within his dark purple eyes.

"Aren't you a quincy?" Ichigo asked as he reached up pulling one of the claw ends out of him and causing fresh blood to pour from it.

"So you know what a Quincy is? Funny most shinigami don't seem to, but no I'm not a quincy. Just someone who pretends to be one" She replied as she grimaced at his wounds. "Sorry about that" She said cautiously as she reached out and touched his fresh wound.

"Like I said a shinigami duty is to protect souls from hollows and that means even if the soul is still living" Ichigo said as he winced in pain. "Now get out of here before that hollow breaks out of whatever you put it in"

She glanced back at the metal container before looking back at Ichigo. Ichigo saw determination flash in her eyes before she shook her head. "Like hell I'm going to save my own ass when you saved me like that."

Ichigo sighed. "Your just stubborn look kid this is a matter of life and death"

She raised an eyebrow. "Who are you calling kid? You look as old as I do"

Ichigo didn't have a reply for that, he did look young but he had always looked young ever sense he first became a shinigami. He still looked like he'd fit right it going back to high school for he still looked like a 15 year old. Something that kind of bothered him at times but something he had learned to accept none the less. Taking a deep breath, he turned his attention back to his savior, a rebellious thought crossing his mind on how they could get out of his situation. It was crazy and honestly still quite illegal but he wouldn't be able to fight. Raising up zangetsu he pointed it at the girl using up some of the last bits of his strength.

"Do you have any way to fight against that hollow anymore?" Ichigo asked.

"Not really… Why do you have something in mind?" She asked eying the sword in his hand that was pointed at her.

"Yes, but it's crazy and honestly it could kill both of us" Ichigo replied.

"Well that hollow is going to kill at least one of us if we don't do it so I guess I'll do it" She said as her eyes remained focused on the sword.

"Well you know you could still run, and even if we both survive it could changed your fate forever" Ichigo replied.

The girl paused at Ichigo words, clearly taken by them. Ichigo watched her eyes carefully and he honestly expected her to take off at any moment to leave him to his fate, but as another loud thud echoed from the container the hollow was in, a look of determination appeared in the girl's eyes. Clearly she was willing to do it and Ichigo didn't know if he really should be agreeing to this but they didn't have any time and it seemed like no one was going to come to their rescue.

"What do I need to do?" Ichigo's savior asked her resolve reflecting in her tone.

Ichigo took a deep breath before his face became serious. "You must become a Shinigami. Take my sword and plunge it through your chest, I shall bestow onto you my shinigami powers and you will fight that hollow."

Her eyes widen as she looked at the sword with apprehension before taking a deep breath. "Give me that sword shinigami…" Her voice was strong and held the same determination his held on that dark night so long ago.

A small smile graced his face. "It's not shinigami, it's Kurosaki Ichigo"

Ichigo could have sworn he saw a look of recognition in the eyes of the girl before him before she smiled. "Ah, pleasure. I'm Saguwa Rukia… Hopefully this isn't the last for the both of us…"

Ichigo eyes flashed at the name before he watched Rukia stick the sword through her chest. A strange sensation flooded his body before there was an explosion of raw power. Ichigo had to shield his eyes and turn away as the sound of what appeared to be glass shattering was heard. It took a second for Ichigo eyes to adjust after being blinded by light of the explosion before the cry of the hollow echoed in the air. Ichigo eyes feel upon the hollow who now had 4 of its legs severed and was wallowing in pain upon the ground before his eyes flickered towards the black robe figure still holding the bloody sword. Another pain shot through his chest as he reached up and held his chest.

"Well well now looks like the roles have been reversed hollow" Rukia smirked before the hollow turned its attention back towards Ichigo clearly intent on still making a meal of him.

What happened next was lost on Ichigo as Rukia moved with the skills of flash step and appeared in front of the hollow. A roar of pain once again filled the street as Rukia sword cut cleanly through the hollow mask like a butter knife through hot butter. The hollow fell back dissolving into nothingness before his eyes as Rukia staggered slightly upon her feet.

"I did it…" Her voice was weak before she collapsed onto the ground clutching her zanpakuto in her hand.

Ichigo only took a deep breath as he leaned back; the ghostly white robes he wore meant he had lost all of his power in the transfer. He was going to be in loads of trouble once soul society had figured out what he had done, not that it mattered. He would have died here any ways he had just prolonged his death until soul society caught up with him. Maybe it would give him enough time to figure out who that figure who had been hunting him had been. Question buzzed through his mind as he tried to focus to ward off the cold and tired feeling that was slowly sinking into him. It was only as he heard the familiar sound of wooden sandals. Slowly Ichigo turned his dulled gaze towards the sound not completely surprised by who he found standing there.

"Urahara-san…." Ichigo's voice was weaker then he wanted it to be.

Urahara turned his attention towards Ichigo, that mischievous glint in his eye. "My My Kurosaki-kun you have really overdone yourself this time" He took a step towards Rukia. "It's remarkable isn't it, someone who can look so remarkably like Kuchiki-san. If I may inquire did you give her your powers for that reason?"

Ichigo just turned away from the old shop keeper, refusing to answer. Urahara glance back at Ichigo before he reached up and adjusted his striped hat upon his head. Looking in between the two, he let out a bit of a sigh before taking a step over and kneeling down in front of the man he once called a student of his. Ichigo still refused to look him but Urahara was use to the orange hair man's show of disrespect.

"You're pretty beat up, so we'll talk about all this later." He raised his hand up to Ichigo's face and in an instant Ichigo eyes went blank before he slumped over seemingly asleep.

Urahara reached down and threw Ichigo over his shoulder. "Even with these injuries you are still impossible to kill" Urahara seemed to sigh before he attention turned towards the next person to arrive on the scene, a small smile appeared on the shop keeper's face. "I take it you'll take care of your daughter?"

Uryu took a step the light of the street before looking down at Ichigo's savior. His lips were pressed into a fine line. Slowly he reached down cradling the new shinigami in his arms before walking over and placing her within the body that laid discarded near Ichigo. The girl remained unconscious even as Ishida took a deep breath and turned to look at the shopkeeper then at the blood stained man slumped over Urahara's shoulder.

"You better heal him up good, so I can kill him at full strength. My quincy pride refuses to attack a wounded man." Ishida spoke pointedly before he picked up Rukia into his arms.

Urahara chuckled. "I have a feeling Ichigo will have more than a few things to say to you once he finds out."

Uryu took a deep breath. "My daughter might look a lot like the late Kuchiki-san and have the same name, but she is not her." With that said the Quincy turned to leave.

"But isn't that why you adopted her Ishida-san?" Urahara asked after the Quincy.

There came no reply.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Bleach, nor do I really want to. I just wanna be able to write silly little fics like this and call it a day. Here is the second chapter and as much as I tired to edit it on my own. I know there is a billion little mistakes across the whole thing. I don't have anyone to beta read it and my editing skills are distinctly lacking. Hopefully the story is good enough for people to look past those little things and enjoy the story. I have a idea how this story is going to go but if you have and idea don't be afraid to tell me in a review. I'm a roleplayer at heart more so then a writer so I'm use to things changing with little notice if I get an idea.

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_"If I could only give you one thing, I wish to give you something to love besides me…"_

The words rang from depths from his memories flooding his conscious with her voice. The voice his heart just couldn't forget. Slowly he stirred, realizing that he had indeed survived the night before from the racking pain of his injuries from the night before. A small groan passed forth from his lips before slowly his mind began to function as it normally did; making his dreams from the night before faded into nothingness. Still he wanted to linger there for a moment longer regaling in the memory of such a beautiful dream but it was not to be as the dream faded like morning dew off the flowers as the sun rose.

Slowly opening his eyes, the harshness of the overhead lights instantly seared into his vision causing him to close his eyes and squint as he got adjusted to the light level. Getting up, the futon he was covered with fell away from his bare but bandaged chest as the emptiness of the small room greeted him. After a second or to, his eyes adjusted and he was able to familiarize his surroundings. His memory clicked back to years prior remembering being in this particular room several times in his youth. This was Urahara's place, that back room he always used when someone needed to be treated.

Reaching up ran his hand across his face, a bit surprised at the sluggishness in his movement. Looking down at his hand, he flexed it before he was able to figure out the cause of his delayed responses. He was in a gigai which made sense considering where he was. Taking a deep breath his hand fell away from his face touching the white and red stained bandages that crisscrossed his chest. He showed few visible wounds but from the ache in his movements he knew the wounds that were inflicted on his soul were still very serious.

"Great… He just couldn't leave me to die…" Ichigo muttered as he slowly got to his feet; ignoring the pain the best he could.

The gigai he was in was clothed in simple pajama bottoms that were made of a light fabric, something he felt slightly uncomfortable in considering how use to being in full shinigami attire his soul had was so use to wearing. Granted he'd counted his blessing, Urahara had been known for his crude sense of humor and Ichigo wouldn't put it past his former mentor to just leave him naked if he could get a good chuckle out of it. As he moved towards the door, it slid open before he could even reach it as Tessai's large frame appeared in the threshold.

"Ah you are awake!" The shop assistance's voiced boom which made Ichigo's head throb uncomfortably. "I wouldn't advise moving around much Kurosaki-san, please go lay down well I go get the shop owner" Tessai voice had the same tone that a mother's might who was worried about a young child.

Ichigo opened his mouth to protest that he was fine but Tessai's disappeared quickly from the door and the lumbering sound of his foots steps where heard disappearing down the hall. A sigh echoed from Ichigo's already wounded chest before his moved his flux body back over to the futon and sat down. Folding his legs under him, he waited patiently for the quirky shop keeper he had known since his teenage years.

The wait wasn't really too long as Urahara appeared in the door way a moment later. "Ah Kurosaki-kun" His tone had an almost musical ring to it that caused Ichigo's head the throb painfully again. "I'm glad to see you up after all you shouldn't be alive, but you always had that strange ability to keep living no matter how bad you get because of that hollow of yours" Urahara moved into the room sitting down on a pillow next to Ichigo's futon.

Ichigo didn't have anything to say to the man next to him but as he mentioned his hollow, Ichigo again probed his mind for a cocky voice only to realize his schizophrenia appeared to be cured as no voice answered back to his calls. His mind instantly returned to the night before and the mysterious figure who had stabbed him. Most of the memories from the attack were as fuzzy as the dream he had just recently awaken from but the memories from after the attack where clears as day. He only needed to close his eyes to draw up an image of the strange girl who he met last night.

"So why don't you tell me what happened last night, you had a wound from a zanpakuto as well as ones from a hollow" Urahara slowly inquired in a more serious tone then the one he had used before.

Ichigo slowly lifted his gaze to meet the shop keepers. "I really wish I knew to be honest… I only remember sitting in my office and someone coming in" Ichigo reached up and rubbed his temples as the throbbing in his head seemed to intensify tenfold. "The next thing I remember is meeting that girl… Then the hollow attacked us and well I gave her my powers." As his mind drew up the girl's face; his eyes once again turned towards the shop keeper. "Who is that girl?"

Urahara's brow arched slightly as he reached up and adjusted his hat. "As far as I know, just a girl" His tone seemed to hold a cryptic edge to it that put Ichigo on edge.

"You know more than that!" Ichigo snapped.

The shopkeeper's lips slowly twitched upwards into a small smile. "Maybe I do… maybe I don't but why don't you go ask Miss Rukia-chan yourself? After all she's your responsibly now"

Ichigo's normal scowl returned to his face with a vengeance, to be completely honest he really didn't want to see the girl again let alone talk to her. It wasn't that he had anything against his savior from the night before, it was just that she reminded too much of her. He had tried to move on so long ago but just seeing that girls face from the night before brought with it painful memories that made his current wounds feel like nothing next to the mental anguish.

"She isn't my reasonability. Now thank you for healing me and thank you for crafting me this gigai but I'm returning to soul society right now to confess what I have done" Ichigo slowly tried to get to his feet again once again ignoring the surges of painful protest his body made.

Urahara didn't move from his spot as his eyes passively followed the orange haired man as he got up. "Then you wish for the girl's death?"

In an instant every fiber in Ichigo's body and gigai instantly froze as Urahara's words hung in the air like a death sentence. Slowly movement returned to the man as he slowly turned to the shopkeeper at his side. Just because he never wished to see the girl again didn't mean he would willingly do anything that could lead to her death, no if it came to that he'd fight to protect her with the same passion he had a youth when it came to protecting his friends and family.

"Surely you don't think Soul society will let her live after she took your powers. You are incredibility lucky I just happened to be passing by when I did after Byakuya left you bleeding on the street. You broke a law Ichigo and so did she by accepting your powers, or has Captain Kurosaki forgotten the laws of soul society?" Urahara tone was almost like an executioner reading off someone death sentence.

Ichigo knew the old shopkeeper was right as much as he sourly didn't care to admit it. He was powerless as both and shinigami and a Vizard, he wouldn't be able to protect the girl if soul society caught up with him now. Oh and they would catch up soon, after all they probably realized he was missing by now. Soul Society just doesn't lose their 5 division captain and pretend it's nothing,

"What can I do?" Ichigo asked not liking the ring of desperation in his voice.

Urahara grinned back at the orange haired man. "You must make her useful to soul society. If she is useful then she'll become what you once were a substitute shinigami."

Ichigo could tell Urahara was baiting him into something but he went along with it anyways. "And how do I do that?"

Urahara's smirk only seemed to widen as his former student asked that question. "By training her in the way of the shinigami; I'll help of course!"

Ichigo instantly knew he didn't like this idea in the least bit, but as he mauled over his options he found a distinct lack in other chooses. He didn't like being in a situation like this but at the moment but there was nothing he could do about it. No doubt Urahara's help would come at a price but if it insured the safety of the girl he had given his power too then he'd just have to pay in full.

"Alright, what do I need to do first?" Ichigo asked.

Urahara chuckled. "Well, I think going and talking to her is a good way to start. Try smiling Kurosaki-kun after all you don't want to scare the poor girl off with that scowl of yours" The shopkeeper chided as he rose to his feet with a motioned of his hand beckoned the orange haired man to follow him.

Ichigo merely rolled his eyes at the comment before following after the shopkeeper from the backroom.

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The scowl on Ichigo face had yet to disappear as he waiting just outside the doors to class B-2. He really didn't want to have to go back to school after all he had gone to college and had a degree in literature before he was finally granted a captain's position in soul society. He had come full circle on his education or so he liked to believe and posing as a highschool student just didn't sit right with Kurosaki, kind of like a thorn in his side. He did look the part though; the school uniforms hadn't changed much in 30 years.

What had changed was the technology level. Instead of a school bag he had a fancy computer that was school issued. Apparently everything that had to do with his school work was to be done on this computer, long gone was pencil and paper. Something that would take some adjusting to get use to seeing as how Soul Society was still pretty low tech when it came to such things and he hadn't used a computer since he had left college.

"Please come in now Mr. Kurosaki!" A voice beckoned him from the other side of the class room door.

With a deep breath, Ichigo turned and opened the door stepping into a class room not to different from the one he was in so many years ago, if you ignore all the technological upgrades. The chalk board was virtual and everyone had their own computer stationed at their high tech looking desks. The room was lit up well no doubt to reduce the stress on the eyes of the teenagers as they stared at computer screens all day but behind fancy laptop monitors the kids looked just as bored as he had been during his highschool days. Scanning over the faces, his eyes locked upon the violet eyes of the young girl from the night before as she stared back at him with almost a look of complete disbelief.

"Everyone this is out new exchange student. He comes to us from a remote area of Japan that isn't use to the same technology level so he might need some help adjusting to us. Mr. Kurosaki why don't you write your name on the board and tell us a little about yourself" The teacher who he knew was name Ms. Obito asked of him.

There were a few mummers that circled the class room that the teacher seemed to ignore as she handed Ichigo a strange pen looking object that no doubt could write on the strange virtual board. Glancing at the pen a moment Ichigo put it to the board signing his name like he had done numerous times. As he finished his scrawled name transformed into more readable letters like magic before he turned around to address the class.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo started bowing slightly. "Nice to meet all of you, I'm 15 years old and yes this is my natural hair color. I'm not use to this technology level so please take good care of me here." The words came out sounding a bit forced as Ichigo tried to sound like a nice guy.

"Thank you Mr. Kurosaki, why don't you take a spot behind Ms. Saguwa" The teacher motioned to a spot four rows back and behind his violet eyed savior from the night before.

Perfect, was all Ichigo could say in the back of his mind as he stepped past the teacher and down the row of desk to the one behind Ms. Saguwa. He could feel her eyes burn into him as he moved to sit behind her and calmly pull out his computer and set it down on the station on his desk. A few second passed and the teacher started her lesson on geography. Ichigo stared at his computer a moment trying to figure out how to work the thing before he reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder. She instantly spun around meeting his eyes, her curious look replaced with a bit of an annoyed one.

"You and me after class, I need to talk to you" Ichigo whispered secretly enjoying that look on her face.

"Is there a problem Mr. Kurosaki?" The teacher asked.

"I'm just trying to figure out how to use these computers Ms. Obito, forgive me I don't mean to disturb the class" Ichigo replied quickly trying to put on an innocent face.

The teacher seemed to buy it as she nodded her eyes falling upon Ms. Saguwa. "Ms. Saguwa, will you please assist Mr. Kurosaki in bring up today's lesson?"

She seemed reluctant but slowly she got up from her desk and moved to stand next to him. Instantly after a few clicks she brought up the current lesson along with a small note pad that apparently was used to take notes. Slowly she leaned in typing something onto his computer before flashing him a look and returning back to her desk. Ichigo watched her before is eyes feel upon his computer screen and the note she had left for him.

_'Meet me at the back of the gym' _

Ichigo quickly erased the note before anyone else could see it before he begun to divide his attention between what the teacher was saying and the things his computer did. Technology really had made quite a lot of headway in the years he had been in soul society. Maybe being suck wasn't such a bad thing, than again he was a high school student again.

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I'll make a small plea to the community, if anyone wants to be my beta readers and help me edit I'd be more then willing to give them credit. I really do suck at editing so if someone wants the job it's available. I dunno when I'll have out the next chapter so I'm not making any promises but I'll make it. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter.  
-Kadington


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Bleach and I have no interest in doing so. Well here is the third chapter to my little fic. I don't have much to say other then the fact my Betareader BeccaBaby is like the best beta reader I've ever had. She rocks!

* * *

Rukia had been waiting behind the gym for nearly 10 minutes now. As she checked her watch she wondered if the shinigami wasn't going to show up. Then again it had been his idea to meet in the first place so she sat there and continued to wait, already building up the speech she was going to give him once he finally got there. Rukia had no clue why he had shown up at her school for most of the shinigami that she knew seemed to mostly keep to themselves not wanting to meddle in the affairs of the living. Rarely did she ever get a chance to talk to one, let alone meet one at school like that. There was something different about the shinigami she had met last night, something that she didn't know if she should fear or adore.

Folding her arms across her chest, Rukia made a frustrated noise as she once again checked her watch. Time seemed to have slowed to a standstill as she waited. It seemed impossible, but her watch registered that it had only been 30 seconds since she had last glanced down at it. Sighing, Rukia tapped her foot against the ground in an aggravated matter before finally seeing the obnoxious orange hair of the shinigami appear from the gym doors. He looked a bit disoriented, but as his eyes finally found her, and she let another frustrated noise escape her chest.

"Where were you?" Rukia asked in an accusing tone.

The shinigami gave her a passive look before glancing around as if he was getting ready to divulge a secret that could put the whole school in an uproar. After he double checked his surroundings, he straightened up to his full height. This was something that only served to aggravate Rukia more because the shinigami had almost a good foot of height on her. Not that Rukia was overly sensitive about her height; it was more so that she didn't like being looked down upon.

"I got lost." The shinigami replied honestly.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "You could have just followed me out of the class room." Her tone sounded annoyed.

He glanced down at her, a brow slightly cocked. "I'm sorry, next time I won't care what the other kids say." He replied with a bit of a scoff.

Rukia might have been more appreciative of this gesture if it wasn't for the fact that she really didn't have must of a school life. Her concern of what others thought was near zilch, mostly because she only had a few friends. Airi, Rukia's sister was more of the social butterfly then she was, and Rukia often got dragged along by said sister who thought her unsocial. Let the other kids think what they wanted to think; maybe it could be a good game to play on the social order of the school. The unsocial short girl snags the handsome new exchange student. Oh, Rukia could almost see the preps' faces at the notion which in turn put her in a much better mood.

"You act like you've been in high school before, Shinigami." Rukia said, letting her folded arms fall to her side.

The shinigami gave her a strange look as if recalling something before he quickly turned away, his eyes down cast upon the ground like it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. "You have no idea…"

"Umm… So anyways what are you doing here, if I may ask?" Rukia decided to get her most pressing question out of the way first instead of skirt around the issue.

The shinigami's eyes lifted from the cement underfoot and once again looked at her. His face became a lot more passive even with the weird way his brows were always knitted together, giving him an angry look. Taking a deep breath, Rukia could see in his eyes he was trying to find a way to explain things to her. After letting him linger in his thoughts for a moment or two, Rukia shot him one of her classic "just spit it out" look which had its intended effect.

"I'm following you," he said.

"Great, I have an undead stalker." Rukia replied in a flat tone.

His scowl intensified but Rukia didn't know if it was directed towards her or towards himself when he spoke again. "I didn't mean it like that!" The shinigami snapped before attempting to continue in a calmer tone. "Look, last night I gave you my shinigami powers." He paused and only continued after he got a nod of confirmation from Rukia. "And because of that, I don't have shinigami powers anymore; so you need to take my place and become a shinigami."

A wind picked up blowing though the back lot of the gym as Rukia stared at the shinigami before her with a look of shock. He didn't have his shinigami powers anymore? Clearly someone needed to hit the rewind button, because Rukia had no clue what this idiot was talking about. How can she possibly take over his job of being a shinigami? Sure she turned into a shinigami last night, but she had figured that to be more of a onetime thing. Up until he had appeared in her classroom she had honestly thought that last night had all been a dream. Opening and closing her mouth several times, Rukia tried to find acquit words to express her utter confusion at everything that was happening.

"Woah, Woah, Woah. Slow down Shinigami…" Rukia put her hands up effectively silencing the man before he could spew any more nonsense. "Let's take that one from the top. How did you lose your shinigami powers?"

The shinigami sighed. "To be honest, I'm not completely sure. But what I do know is that what remained of my powers where transferred to you last night and thus they are inside of you… Well they are in your soul now."

Rukia raised her eyebrow. "So something zapped your powers last night and what little powers you had left were given to me?" Rukia said, making sure she was following what was going on.

"Yes," he started. "Something attacked me last night before you met me and whatever that thing was it took away most of my powers."

"That doesn't surprise me after seeing how beat up you were last night. Granted, it couldn't have been that bad, because you look okay today." Rukia stated.

As if to empathize her point, she reached out to poke the shinigami in the side where she knew he had been hurt the night before. Instantly, he squirmed under her touch and his face contorted in pain. Rukia just then realized that he had been hiding his pain all along. He shot her a look as he rubbed the spot where he had been poked.

"Yeah I look okay." The shinigami almost growled.

"Sorry…" Rukia replied bashfully. "You should have my mom look you over, I'm sure she'll be able to heal you."

"I don't think your mom would be able to help with my injuries." He scoffed.

"You'd be surprised… Come on let's have her look at you." Rukia turned and motioned for him to follow her.

The shinigami gave an aggravated groan. "I don't think your parents should meet me"

"Why not? They are cool with Shinigami, even if Dad's a bit more anal then Mom. Quincy pride and all he states." Rukia explained.

She started to walk off before she realized he wasn't following. Couldn't this guy just listen to her for once? He had a bit of a dumb look on his face as Rukia reached over and grabbed his hand. Without much of a fuss the shinigami followed after her as she tugged him along. A few of her fellow students still lingering on the school grounds gave her a strange look as she toted the boy behind her, but she couldn't bring herself to care about their reactions. Rukia had succeeded in dragging him almost halfway towards her house before he finally slipped his hand out of her grip and moved to walk next to her.

"What are your parent's names?" He suddenly asked.

Rukia glanced up at him instantly wondering if this shinigami knew them. After all, he knew what a Quincy was and as far as she knew there were only like four Quincys left in the world and all of them were blood related to her dad. Also the name Ichigo did ring a bell, but from where she really wasn't sure. Maybe he was an old friend of her mom and dad. Giving him a good hard look once again, she suddenly realized how familiar he looked. Clearly Rukia hadn't seen the shinigami, whoever he was, in ages, that is if she had known him at one point.

"My mom's name is Ishida Orihime, and my dad's is Ishida Uryu." She replied watching his face, carefully judging his reaction to the names.

There seemed to be a spark of recognition in his eyes before he stopped and looked at her. The shinigami seemed to study her just as she was studying him for a moment before he quickly turned away again as if unable to face her for some reason. Rukia was beginning to realize there was something about her that made the shinigami unable to look her in the eye. He really couldn't be that shy could he?

"I know them both…" The shinigami said looking down the sidewalk they were currently traveling on. "Why is your last name different from them if you are their daughter?"

Rukia didn't answer right away, letting the question hang in the air a moment as she wondered if she should really tell him. "Ah I see. If you must know…I'm adopted. My real parents died in a hollow attack. Apparently I've had high spiritual pressure since I was a baby and I was a magnet for them. Uryu, who is now my dad, saved me from becoming lunch for those monsters. They let me keep my family name, but they changed my first name…"

Rukia really didn't know why she had just willing divulged such personal information about herself. Normally, she would just ignore a question like that. But there was something different with this shinigami, there was something different with Ichigo, and once again she couldn't put her finger on it. Whoever he was, she knew she liked him, so the idea of playing shinigami for a while with him didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"Okay my turn for question. How do you know both of my parents" Rukia decided to ask.

The shinigami glanced at her again refusing to look at her outright before he spoke. "I've known them for a long time; they use to be my trusted nakama." His dark eyes seemed a little distant. "But something happened and, well, we lost contact."

"What happened?" Rukia asked, almost automatically.

The shinigami's eyes remained distant before glancing at her once again out of the side of his vision. "I believe it's my turn to ask a question. What can I do to convince you to be a shinigami in my place?" His tone seemed to hint that he didn't wish to share with her what had happened.

A small smile appeared on Rukia's lips. "I've already decided to help you. I live with a bunch of Quincys and a mom who can reject things. I've wanted a way to beat up hollows for a long time now."

That was true. Ever since Rukia had learned that her birth parents had died in a hollow attack, she had trained hard so that she would be able to stand up against hollows. She couldn't be a Quincy no matter how much she trained herself in its arts. There was just something about her dad's blood lined that made them able to absorb the spiritual particles to form the bow. Still, even without Quincy abilities, her skills with a Seele Schneider where quite advanced as were her skills with Gintō. It didn't help much though since she normally didn't carry many silver tubes on her and her dad didn't normally let her just walk around with one of the Seele Schneiders.

"This isn't a game you know." The shinigami seemed to warn.

Rukia looked at him with a serious look. "I know that… You almost died last night because of a hollow. I have my own reason for wanting to do this, so be thankful I decided to help you." And with that said, Rukia started to walk again.

Hearing his footsteps echo behind her, Rukia smiled. After a few more strides, the shinigami managed to fall in step next to her, his attention taken up by the cell phone he had produced from his pocket. They walked in a comfortable silence the rest of the way home, reaching the front door only 20 minutes later then Rukia normally did. Rukia wasn't one that normally stuck around after school. Being in only one after school club was more than enough for her and she enjoyed her time spent at home. She only hoped her parents weren't worried about her. Her mom had a habit of worrying over some of the littlest things when it came to Rukia and her dad didn't worry so much as control. He wanted to know what, where, when, why, and for how long, not that Rukia minded so much, but it did get a bit annoying.

Opening the door, she walked in, taking off her shoes at the entrance before pausing as she looked back at the shinigami that lingered in the doorway. He seemed hesitant to come in for some reason and as Rukia rolled her eyes she grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him across the threshold. He didn't protest or resist the action, but he still seemed strangely stiff as he stood there.

"Mom, I'm home and I brought someone with me." Rukia yelled into the house as she gave her shinigami friend a look. "Well take off your shoes. If you do know my mom, she should be happy to see you."

The shinigami took a deep breath before reaching down and undoing his shoe laces as he pulled his shoes off. He remained strangely silent as Rukia heard footsteps echo from the front room and approach the entry way. No doubt her mom was curious about who she had brought home. After all, she wasn't normally one to bring friends home. Most of her school friends weren't people she brought home very often. That was more her sister's thing. Her mom appeared in the entry way a second later and had her normal welcoming smile on her face, but it wasn't a look that lasted long. As soon as she saw who Rukia had with her, her eyes instantly filled with shock.

"Kurosaki-kun…?" The confusion in her voice was evident as her smile faded.

"Hello, Inoue…" he replied as stoned faced as Rukia's mother was.

A second or two of silence passed. Rukia could have cut the tension in the air with a butter knife; it was that thick and suffocating. Glancing between the two, Rukia was quick enough to pick up that whatever had happened between the two, it had caused a lot of stress. Slowly Orihime's eyes fell to her daughter then shot back to the man she used to know before she turned.

"Come into the living room…" Orihime quietly said, motioning for both of them to follow her.

The shinigami stared after Orihime with a look on his face that belonged to someone who had just lost something dear to them. His shoulders lost all of their tension as his fists clenched at his side and he muttered something that Rukia didn't catch. Rukia watched him anxious to know what had transpired between this shinigami and her mom, but knew better then to ask about something that was obviously painful for both of them. After a moment or two, his gaze finally turned towards her and looked at her with a look that made Rukia's heart jerk painfully before he walked past her and into the living room. Slowly she followed after him, feeling a bit like she was treading on some private part of his world that she had no business knowing about.

Orihime had already sat down upon in one of the armchairs and quietly motioned Ichigo to a seat on the couch. Rukia glanced at the two before deciding to give them a private moment. Whatever had happened wasn't her business. As she turned to leave she was surprised when a hand shot out catching her before she could make her exit. Her eyes followed the hand slowly to the face of the shinigami before looking into his sorrowful eyes.

"Does she know?" He asked suddenly and Rukia knew the question wasn't directed at her but was about her.

"No… Soken knows not to bring it up and Airi doesn't know either. I wanted to tell her but Uryu doesn't think it's wise." Orihime quietly said.

What was this thing that had the shinigami's eyes filled with such sorrow and what did it have to do with her? Apparently Soken knew something, but her older brother pretty much seemed to know everything. Soken not only was smart but had a calm head about him that made him excellent to get advice from. Rukia really loved her older brother but he was in 20 and in college now. It was rare to see him except when he came home on holidays. Airi, Rukia's sister, was also someone great to listen to too and she knew how to relate better being only a year older. It was just the many things that Rukia didn't see eye to eye on with her 16 year old sister that put a kink in their relationship.

The shinigami released her before turning away again. "I see."

"What are you guys talking about?" Rukia asked looking at her mom. Rukia wouldn't deny it; the way that the conversation was going was seriously starting to freak her out a bit.

Silence was her only reply.

"You both know something that you are clearly keeping from me." Rukia rebuked.

Slowly Ichigo's gaze swung around and looked at Orihime. His face was placid, as if he was trying to hide all of his emotions behind the angry look he wore. As for her part, Rukia's mom just looked sad as she turned to return the shinigami's gaze. Their lingering silence only served to aggravate Rukia even more as her eyes suddenly held a venomous look.

"She is your daughter; I have no right to tell her." His voice was solemn as he spoke, and he slowly rose to his feet. "But if you don't, I will."

Orihime closed her eyes before shaking her head. "Maybe this is all fate, Kurosaki-kun…" A humorless smile passed over her lips. "After all, you gave her your powers last night just like Kuchiki-san gave you her's. Rukia, go upstairs and under your father's and my bed is a grey photo album. Go get it for me please"

Rukia paused trying to piece together her mother's almost cryptic words, but by the way her mom had said please Rukia knew it would be wiser to do as her mother had asked. Whenever she had that tone, bad things normally happened. When any of the kids disobeyed, it was that tone that had always instilled a healthy fear in Rukia to not upset her mother. Turning, she darted upstairs to follow her mother's instructions and quickly found the book her mom had asked her to find deep under her parent's bed. As she dusted off the thick layer of dust, it was apparent that the book hadn't been touched in a long time. Getting up, she quickly returned back downstairs and handed the book to her mom.

The shinigami in her living room didn't say anything as her mother took the book. He merely sat there, watching quietly and passively as Orihime opened the old album. The book was made up of old pictures, a bit discolored from age, of her parents at a much younger age. Her mom didn't look bad for being 45, but when you compared her with the pictures of her back then her age really seemed to shine through. Orihime slowly flipped through the old album and paused on one page in particular before she reached forward and pulled a picture free and handed it to her daughter.

Rukia took the picture from her mother studying it carefully. The picture had a bunch of people in it. Some of the people from the picture Rukia knew, like her mom and dad. The giant standing in the background was who Airi always called Uncle Chad. Her mom's childhood friend, Tatsuki, was there too. What really surprised her was to see Ichigo in the picture next to her dad wearing an annoyed look on his face. She glanced at the picture then back at the shinigami on the couch realizing that he hadn't aged a day since this photo was taken. That was amazing since, from what she could tell, it had been some time ago. Rukia's eyes returned to the photo scanning over the faces before she stopped on the petite figure next to Ichigo in the picture. A small smile was aimed up at the ever scowling Ichigo, making it look like she was the one that caused the look on his face. What surprised Rukia the most was how much the girl in the picture looked like her.

Glancing up at her mom with a confused look, Orihime took out another picture and handed it to her. It appeared to be in the same place as the picture before, but the girl that had caught her attention was sitting in Ichigo's lap pointing towards her mom. Everyone had smiles on their faces including Ichigo who had his arms wrapped around the girl's waist in such a way that it appeared the two were dating in the picture. Rukia's eyes lingered on the photo a moment longer before looking up at her mom and Ichigo.

"Who is she?" Rukia quietly asked, handing the photos back to her mom.

"Her name was Kuchiki Rukia," Orihime got kind of a sad smile on her face and Rukia noticed Ichigo eyes had fallen to the floor once again. "She was my best friend for many years," A few tears threaten to spill from Orihime's eyes. "She was also Kurosaki-kun's wife before she died."


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Bleach, nor do I want to really. I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed up until this point and my fabulous beta reader **BeccaBaby. **Sorry for the delay with this chapter, I hope the fact that it's the biggest chapter so far makes up for it. I started playing Bioshock 2 and couldn't put it down until I beat it so that's the reason for the delay. It's a great game. If you liked this chapter or completely hated it, feel free to leave me a review.

* * *

It really hadn't gone over too well after Orihime had told his savior the news. She had gone strangely silent before disappearing out of the room like a spooked rabbit. Having no real business with Orihime, Ichigo was quick to excuse himself from the situation. He might have stayed longer when Orihime gave him that sad look, but his heart was too pained by this whole process to sit and have a chat with his old friend. He'd talk to her later. Right now he just wanted to dull the pain that he had been trying to subdue for almost two decades. He ended up roaming the streets of Karakura like a lost spirit before finally settling down upon the banks of a familiar spot.

Ichigo sat upon the green grass of the bank that flanked the Karasu River. This place had always held more meaning to him than any other place in the town of Karakura because of all the memories he had here. This bank was the place where his mother died, and the place that his friends and he would always walk by on their way to school. Ichigo had few distant memories of battles here and a few memories of sitting on these very shores while watching fireworks with all his friends. There was also the bridge a little ways down where he had returned Chad's coin and had gained a remarkable friend in the process. This river held so many moving memories for him, but the one that was probably dearest to him out of all those memories was the one Ichigo had the night before he was to go off to college. As he glanced down the pathway along the river his memory played out that night so many years ago.

* * *

_The moon was so bright that night, along with the street lamps, that it wasn't hard to navigate the sidewalk even if it was so late at night. Ichigo and Rukia had just returned from a going away party for the people with whom they had fought alongside with for so long. Everyone was finally starting to get on with their lives and move on from their high school adventuring days. College was the first step for almost all of them, but even though they all had separate places to be, they all carried the bond that would no doubt bring them back together again when the time was right. It was going to be sad to break up the group, but they couldn't stay high school students forever. The party had gone on for many hours that night and by the time they had finally left, it was 2 o' clock in the morning. _

_The cool air that came off the river had a bit of a sobering effect that kept Ichigo awake as he and Rukia slowly made their way back to the clinic. It was going to be their last night together for a while since Rukia was heading back to Soul Society in the morning under Ukitake's orders. She was going to be promoted to Vice Captain and as much as Ichigo wanted to be there when she received the honor, he couldn't. He had to head to Tokyo tomorrow morning to get settled into his dorm before starting class in 2 days. Ishida was also going to the same university but they would be on different sides of the campus. Ichigo didn't know if he'd see much of the medical student._

_They had been walking in silence for most of the trip. When they reached the river, Ichigo had to pause to cast his gaze out upon the watery surface. Pushing his hands deep into his fall jacket, he took a long breath knowing he'd miss walking by this river the most out of all the places in Karakura town. As he stopped moving, Rukia glanced back at him giving him a bit of a curious look that reflected well in the moonlit night. Letting a small smile tug at his lips, the normal scowl Ichigo wore seemed to fade as he stood there gazing out towards the reflective surface of the river._

"_Tomorrow we part ways again." Ichigo said, turning his gaze from the river to look at the petite woman who he owed so much too. _

"_I know…" She started as she moved to stand by his side before reaching up and wrapping her arms around him. "But this parting is on our terms and I know I'll see you again." _

_Ichigo's small smile seemed to warm slightly as he wrapped his arm around the woman at his side. Their relationship had come so far since that day almost three years ago when she had bestowed her power onto him. Somehow friendship had turned to admiration and eventually it had turned into love. This change between them hadn't happened overnight, but once they realized what had happened, their relationship had taken off. It had been after the winter war had been won. Ichigo was proclaimed a hero after he, along with the help of the other captains, managed to deliver the final blow on the tyrant Aizen. There was a party for the victors and a remembrance ceremony for all those who had died. The total casualty count had been low, but a few good friends had been lost in the battle. Momo, Soifon, Iba, Kira, Kenpachi.. Far too many friends.. Ichigo had finally got himself away from a drunken Matsumoto and an equally drunk Renji when he found himself upon the Sōkyoku Hill. That's when he found Rukia standing there under the broken execution stand. There was something special about that night and before it was over he realized that the short, slightly annoying shinigami who had been his partner in so many battles was actually someone he loved._

_Granted this night seemed just as special…_

"_It'll be awhile though. I mean I can't just waltz into Soul Society whenever I please after all it won't be like I'll have a Senkaimon gate in my dorm room. With you being a vice captain, I'm sure you won't find much time to come here to the human world." Ichigo whispered tightening his grip on her as if he never wanted to let go of her. _

"_We are people of two different worlds, Ichigo. We both knew that this day would come." Rukia sighed as she leaned against him._

"_What if I changed that and become part of your world?" Ichigo asked._

_Rukia looked up at him and her violet blue eyes met his mocha ones. A bit of a skeptical look played across her face, but it didn't last long since a smirk soon laced her lips. Ichigo had the ability to do the impossible once he set his mind to it. This was something he had proven time and time again, starting with breaking that kidou the night they had first met and ending with defeating Aizen to end the war. Rukia would have to be silly to start not believing that Ichigo couldn't do something now. After all, it was just one of the many things that she loved about the orange haired man she was snuggling with at the moment._

"_If you were to do that, I wouldn't mind." Rukia replied._

_Ichigo nodded once again casting his gaze back out towards the river. A silence fell between them because words suddenly had become useless. For a long time they just stood there in each other's arms, soaking up the last few precious moments they had together before the new day would see the end of their journey together for some time. They both needed this moment. Their parting would be manageable as long as they had this memory to draw on those days when life was just too much to bear._

"_Rukia…?" Ichigo once again cast his gaze down at the woman in his arms. _

"_Hmm?" was all that Rukia could respond as she glanced up at him._

"_Make me a promise will you?" Ichigo pleaded. _

"_Anything…" Rukia answered. _

_Ichigo paused as if trying to find the right words for what he was about to say before his lips upturned in that classic, almost mischievous smile he wore at times. "If I become part of your world, will you promise to marry me?"_

_For a second or two Rukia didn't say anything. She just looked up at the man who had just proposed to her. She slowly pulled away, a small smile lingered on her lips brought about by the moment and his infectious smirk. "I dunno what Nee-sama will say about that. He might have a problem marrying off his little sister." Rukia playfully shot back. She was already set in her decision, but was in the mood to tease him a bit. _

"_Screw Byakuya, but if it bothers you that much, I'll find a way to convince him that I'm right for you." Ichigo retorted waving his arm as if to dismiss Rukia's comment. _

_Rukia giggled as his determination. "Well, I guess I have nothing to argue about then." _

"_So will you?" Ichigo asked wanting confirmation on her decision. _

_Rukia gave him a look before reaching up and grabbing the front of his shirt. With a quick tug, 5'9 became 4'9 and easy for Rukia to reach as her lips came to rest upon his. This wasn't the typical kiss they shared, the kind that was a quick and simple reminder of how much they cared about each other. No, this kiss was deep and passionate; the kind that could sweep someone off their feet and take away the very air that they breathed. Who was more taken with the kiss was unclear. They didn't draw apart until they felt the need for normal breathing. Ichigo had to admit that his head was spinning as he pulled away and returned to his full height. He knew that he had gotten the answer to his question by the way Rukia smirked up at him. _

"_What do you think?" Rukia questioned._

_Ichigo tightened his grip around the woman in his arms as he leaned down and rested his forehead against hers. "I'll take that as a yes…"_

* * *

Ichigo remembered spending the rest of that morning with Rukia until they had to be separated. It wasn't until the car was finally packed that they had to say their final goodbyes. Ichigo remembered backing his crappy car out of the driveway and watching her standing next to the rest of his family as she waved at him. It had been so hard to leave that he spent most of the trip reminiscing on all their past adventures. Ichigo was happy that his new school kept him busy. In his rare downtimes, he and Uryu would return back to Karakura and enjoy themselves. It would be almost a year before he saw the woman he loved again, and three more years before he could finally marry her.

Running his hand through his unruly hair, Ichigo shook his head. What was he going to do now? He could barely look the girl whom he was supposed to train in the eye. Ichigo would have to face her again, but then again what was he going to say to her? His savior would no doubt have questions and honestly there were things that he just didn't want to answer. Getting up, Ichigo stepped up to the river's edge and stared into the dark water, wishing he could just end his pointless struggle right now. Truly he was only half the man he used to be. The month that Rukia had died, some part of him had died too. Some part of him that held most of his reason to live….

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo closed his eyes vainly trying to will away all the pain that was making its way to the surface when new kind of pain blossomed from his side. The next thing he felt was his body collide forcefully with the ground and skid slightly. In an instant, all the wounds from the night before that had lapsed into silence screamed with pain. Ichigo snapped his head around to glare at his attacker, who happened to be the short girl from the night before. She stood there with her arms folded and an annoyed look on her face that added to the sharp glare that she sent in his direction. If Ichigo hadn't known better, he'd say he was being stared down by his Rukia instead of the strange one that was Ishida's daughter.

"What you do that for!?" Ichigo yelled instantly getting defensive.

"What with that stupid look on your face?!" She yelled back matching his volume.

"I can look however I want to look! What is your problem?!" The yelling continued.

"My problem is that stupid look of yours!" She growled

Ichigo huffed. "What are you doing here?!" His tone was lowered a few octaves.

"Looking for you and that stupid face of yours, Shinigami." His savior's tone had lowered as well.

Ichigo slowly got back to his feet, ignoring the small protest his body gave at the reaction. His wounds still hadn't healed completely and that kick in the side had been surprisingly hard. Rubbing the tender area, Ichigo matched his savior's glare. She wasn't intimidated in the least by his look and held his stare with no hesitation. Another thing that reminded Ichigo even more of the woman he loved.

"What do you want with me? Also, my name is Kurosaki Ichigo. You can stop calling me Shinigami" Ichigo turned his attention back out to the river.

He caught her rolling her eyes out of the corner of his vision. "You're supposed to teach me how to be a shinigami! Just because I look like your dead wife you want nothing to do with me?" His savior started then continued. "And fine, if you don't want to be called Shinigami; I'll call you… Deathberry!"

Ichigo cringed slightly. "You looking like my wife has nothing to do with anything, and no not Deathberry. My name is Ichigo."

"Well Deathberry, you can't even look me in the face so I think that must mean something" She spoke. Her voice was much calmer then it had been a minute ago.

Ichigo was getting ready to fire a retort when he was faced with the sudden disruption of his phone going off. The words he was about to say became dead before ever leaving his lips as he pulled out the ringing device. The alert flashed across the screen telling Ichigo that there was to be a hollow about a half a mile west of their current location. It also said that the monster was due to arrive in 10 minutes. Ichigo eyes snapped from the screen to gaze in a westerly direction before falling back upon the wanna-be shinigami he was suppose to train. His hand dug into his back pocket, fingering the soft fabric of the soul glove that would release his savior from her body.

"You really want to be a shinigami?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes," There was no hesitation in her voice as she responded.

"Then follow me and keep up," Ichigo called over his shoulder as he took off.

Ichigo didn't hesitate as he took off. His phone was using a strange GPS feature to give him the exact coordinates to the hollow's breach spot. As fit as his body appeared to be, Ichigo was quick to learn running in it was constricting. His body refuted his movements in the form of sluggishness and general fatigue, but Ichigo pushed on. This hollow was the perfect opportunity to begin his savior's training. If she was going to become useful to Soul Society the ability to slay hollows was by far the best place to start.

As Ichigo came to the spot his chest heaved in great spasms as it tried to bring oxygen to the vital components of his gigai. No doubt that if this was his actual body; Ichigo would feel the light headedness and muscle ache that came with such exercise, but this wasn't the case. His soul had no real attachment to this gigai making him somewhat immune from some of its physical complications. Granted he'd still feel pain from it if he did something stupid, but maybe Urahara put that in to protect his creation from damage. So far the hollow hadn't showed up, which worked to Ichigo's advantage as he put on the soul glove.

His savior had followed him fairly well, but it was easy to see that she was just as out of breath as Ichigo was. She leaned against the wall of a nearby building, panting to catch her breath. Ichigo had stopped in a dark alley way so that when he drew her soul out of her body people wouldn't get the wrong idea. Clearly physical exercise wasn't something that came easily for her at the moment and was just one of the things he'd have to train her for. She looked up at him as he approached her, a bit of curiosity sparkling in her violet eyes along with confusion at what they were doing here in particular.

"What's… Going on?" His raven haired savior asked in between pants.

Her question answered its self as the cry of a hollow echoed in the air. Ichigo wasted no time as he flexed his hand then pushed it through her chest. In an instant, her soul was separated from its body as a petite shinigami appeared from the body of the girl that was now limp in his arms. His savior seemed shocked again as she looked down at herself in full shinigami attire with her zanpakuto held tight to her side by her obi. The night before, Ichigo really didn't get much of a chance to look at her as she took out the hollow. Now that she was here in front of him, his heart clenched painfully. There was nothing about this girl that didn't remind him of his Rukia, even the hilt of her sword was a complete match for the sealed from of Sode No Shirayuki. Turning away painfully, he carefully set his savior's body down making sure that it was hidden slightly in the alley.

"Come on, I'll answer your questions later. Right now you gotta deal with that hollow." Ichigo commanded over his shoulder as he headed back out towards the main street.

The sound of her running after him was quickly lost as the duo stepped out into to the main street. People and cars weren't lacking on this particular street, it was fairly busy. Then again, it was prime time for people to be out, having just got off of school or work hours before. People no doubt were getting those last few tasks of the day done or were unwinding after a day at the office; all completely unaware of the danger that lurked. Glancing down at the phone in his hands, Ichigo muscled his way through the crowd of people before the echoing sound of an explosion erupted down the street. Suddenly it became harder to move in the crowd as people became panicked. Ichigo continued to try and move through the crowds, and suddenly lost sight of the petite shinigami he was supposed to be instructing. Another explosion echoed just up ahead followed by the unholy call of the hollow. After struggling for another 20 seconds, Ichigo was finally able to break free from the crowd on the street and turn a corner which brought him face to face with the white masked monster.

This hollow didn't even look like any animal in the natural world. It had no legs just an ample supply of tentacles to propel it forward. Its body was furry with a dark red, shaggy fur covering most of its body except for the tentacles. Its mask was high on its body and in the shape that reminded the former substitute shinigami of a crocodile. Not the weirdest hollow he had ever seen, but then again most of them were fairly strange to look at. The dark yellow eyes of the creature instantly fell upon Ichigo as he took a step back. It knew that he saw it and that it could only mean Ichigo was someone with high spiritual pressure.

"You see me boy? How interesting, you will make a fine meal" The hollow seemed to purr with delight.

"You're the second hollow in two days that has wanted to eat me. I doubt you'll fair better than the other guy." Ichigo taunted back to the evil spirit.

"Oh? What makes you think you stand a chance against me?" The hollow inquired.

"It's not really him you have to worry about. It's me, because I protect him." A voice sneered from the darkness.

Ichigo caught a flash of silver from the corner of his eyes as a mutilated limb flew from the hollow. A shriek of pain echoed from the spirit as it jumped back, and stared angrily at the shinigami who suddenly moved to stand in front of Ichigo. Studying the girl in front of him, Ichigo was surprised to see how confidently his savior held her sword out in front of her. Her stance mirrored the basic stances new shinigami who had just graduated the academy took. Ichigo could only believe she had to have had some basic training in sword play.

"So you're my protector now?" Ichigo decided to clarify.

"Yep! After all I don't see you in a fancy black kosode fighting this hollow, Deathberry. It's a shinigami job to protect souls even if they are still living, is it not?" She responded before darting forward to engage the hollow.

Ichigo smirked at her words as he watched her engage the hollow. There was no fear in his savior's sword as she danced gracefully in and out of the hollow's attacks. Just standing there watching, he found his eyes unable to stray from the battle secretly admiring the fluidity of his savior's movements and sword. The battle didn't last long before the new shinigami's sword finally connected with the hollow's mask and sliced it cleanly in two. The cry of the hollow rang in the air like church bells before mass as the creature slowly dissolved from existence. Ichigo was just about to give a snappy congratulation to his apprentice when some movement caught his eye. He was quick to investigate it, knowing there had to be a reason for the hollow appearing at this particular spot. Finding a middle aged spirit cowering slightly behind a small sign, he knew this must have been the spirit the hollow had been after. The spirit looked terrified and after seeing that hollow, Ichigo really wasn't too surprised.

"Hey kid, come over here!" Ichigo shouted to attract the attention of the girl who had saved him.

"I have a name you know!" She expressed with a bit of aggravation in her tone.

"So do I, but you seem unwilling to call me by it." Ichigo shot back.

"But Deathberry fits you so well… _Ichigo._" She rolled her eyes as she emphasized his actual name.

"Whatever, we'll discuss what we call each other later. Right now you have to perform Konsō on this soul." Ichigo explained motioning to the middle aged spirit.

"Konsō? What the heck is that?" His savior asked looking clueless.

The spirit looked worried about the whole conversation. "Please don't hurt me!"

In an instant the spirit tried to back up and knocked over the sign it was trying to hide behind. Ichigo was quick to react and reached out and grabbed the spirit before it could get away. Bringing it around to face the shinigami; he held the spirit up just enough to make it difficult to get away. The spirit became seemingly terrified and struggled to get away, but Ichigo seemed unheeded by its actions.

"Take out your sword and pour some reiatsu into the pommel of the sword." Ichigo started.

His savior gave him a funny sort of look but complied anyway. Drawing her sword, which she had sheathed after she had finished off the hollow, she poured some of her spiritual pressure into it. The sword responded to her request as the very tip of the pommel began to glow with a surreal energy. She was definitely more refined when it came to controling her spiritual pressure then he had been when he first became a shinigami.

"Now press the end of your sword's pommel against this guy's forehead." Ichigo instructed as he lowered the guy down to her level so she could perform the Konsō.

Without even asking what she was really doing, his savior took a step forward and pressed her sword against the guy's forehead. In an instant a stamp mark appeared upon the guy's head and he was bathed in an ethereal glow. The glow subsided leaving a hell butterfly in its wake. The insect was quick to flutter away, ascending to the heavens to bring the spirit to soul society. Ichigo watched silently as the butterfly disappeared before his attention turned back to the rookie shinigami he was training.

"That is Konsō. It's a shinigami's duty to send souls to the Soul Society through Konsō." Ichigo explained.

"Teaching her already in the ways of the shinigami? You move in on my daughter so quickly Kurosaki…" A familiar voice chastised.

Ichigo had felt Ishida's presence only a second before he had spoken. The Quincy had a way about him that seemed to always have a flare for the dramatic. Turning around to face the Quincy, Ichigo offered him an impassive look. Ishida returned the shinigami's look with a pointed one as he stood in a white suit with a tie that bore the symbol of the Quincys. At Ishida's side was a girl that looked no older than his savior. Ichigo knew of Airi, but he had never met her in person. There was no denying that the girl at Ishida's side was indeed his daughter. Airi was well proportioned like her mother but had Ishida's eyes and hair color. She wore square framed glasses similar to her fathers and a traditional Quincy outfit that reminded Ichigo a lot of the one Ishida wore in his teens.

"Dad…" Ichigo heard his savior say from his side.

"I have no choice in this matter Ishida. I have a duty to teach her." Ichigo replied.

Ishida glanced at the daughter by his side then to the daughter that stood by Ichigo. "I was there when you rescued Kuchiki-san, I know about these duties." He raised his hand up and instantly it was a lit with a blue glow and the signature bow of the Quincy appeared aimed directly at Ichigo. "You have put my daughter in danger, and that is something I cannot over look, Kurosaki!"

Ichigo took a deep breath as his gaze became fixed upon the bow that was now aimed at him. He knew that when Ishida pointed his bow at something it wasn't just an empty threat. Ishida meant business and Ichigo was now in a dangerous situation here. Still, Ichigo wasn't going to back down. He knew soul society could very well execute him for giving his powers away, or at the very least exile him. The crime of giving one's powers away was still a very serious crime even if Rukia had gotten away with it, but that was only because no one was going to punish her knowing the length Ichigo would go through and Aizen. If his death came a little early by Ishida's hands he wasn't going to complain. He'd rather die at the hands of an old friend then be killed by the blade of an executioner.

"Wait!" In an instant his savior stood between him and the Quincy. "Dad, it's not his fault! He told me to run, I just couldn't. What he did was our only choice at that moment because I didn't think anyone was going to save us"

Ishida looked at his daughter then back at Ichigo as if he blamed him for his daughter's sudden rebellion. The former substitute shinigami knew better then to let himself create a rift between father and daughter for he was more than willing to take the burden of blame for all of this. Reaching out, Ichigo put a hand on his savior's shoulder and pulled her back so that she was no longer standing between him and the Quincy.

"Rukia, don't… There are some things you don't understand." Ichigo whispered trying to keep the pain from his voice, but not succeeding.

Violet angrily met dark brown as Rukia cast a glare at him. The look in her eyes could only mean that she wanted to understand, and she was frustrated that she didn't. Ichigo felt pain renew in his soul, for he didn't want to have to face that look. He could only turn his gaze away, letting it fall upon the street, helpless to do anything under that gaze.

"That look in your eye hasn't changed in 17 years Kurosaki… Clearly time doesn't heal all wounds." Ishida suddenly spoke as he slowly lowered his bow and let it fade from existence.

Ichigo glanced up at Ishida. "Do you think you could recover?"

Ishida seemed to think over Ichigo's words before his eyes floating to both of his daughters then back at his old friend. "I've seen a lot of bad things happen to good people. No, I don't think it's possible to ever fully recover from something like that." Ishida reached up taking off his glass and cleaning them slowly before replacing them back on his face. "Airi, help your sister find her body and head home. I have to talk to Kurosaki."

"Sure Dad…" Airi's voice held a bit of hesitation before she stepped up to her sister.

"No! I'm not going anywhere! This concerns me and I'm not going to be shunted away like a small child to be left in the dark." Rukia's shouted defiantly.

There was a small silence that arose from Rukia's defiance as father and daughter stared each other down in a battle of wills. Ishida made the first noise scoffing slightly as he raised his brow. Rukia on the other hand remained unyielding. Defiantly staring her father down with the same steely glare she had directed at Ichigo only moments ago.

"Rukia, go home…" Ishida's voice held that tone every parent reserves as a calm warning.

"And if I refuse?" Rukia challenged.

Ishida sighed. "Kurosaki, are you going to tell her…?" Ishida said, eluding the real question. "And if so, how much?"

Ichigo brows lowered at the question. "I'll tell her what she needs to know."

"She knows about Kuchiki. Did she really need to know about that?" Ishida replied smoothly.

"Would you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Rukia suddenly interjected frustration evident in her voice.

"If you want, I can tell her everything. I have nothing to hide." Ichigo responded.

Ishida looked at his daughter. "There you have it. He'll tell you everything, but for now I need to talk to him alone. You will not be left out in the dark as you say."

Rukia showed signs of hesitation before she looked up at Ichigo. Her eyes seemed to be asking a million questions, but as she turned away, it became clear those million questions would have to wait until they got their answers. Ichigo remained rooted to his spot, trying hard not to show any emotion as he watched her turn and leave. His past wasn't something he wanted to try and hide; it was just that the memories brought him so much pain. However, if this girl really did want to know everything, then he'd be willing to share.

"Let's go Airi-chan." Rukia's tone was deflated, but she still held her head up in a way that reminded Ichigo so much of his late wife that it was almost painful.

The two men sat in silence for a while as they watched the two teenage girls leave, wanting to make sure that they were truly alone. By now the sirens of rescue vehicles could be heard approaching, and people where beginning to return to the area the hollow had attack. Undoubtedly, they were drawn by morbid fascination about what had happened not more than 10 minutes ago. Ishida motioned for Ichigo to follow him, not wanting to attract unwanted attention to himself. Ichigo just followed without complaint even after their journey had led him far away from the spot where he had encountered the hollow. It wasn't until they were in the shadow of Karakura hospital did Ishida turn to face the former substitute shinigami.

"I want to ask one question before we proceed." Ishida commented.

"I believe you are entitled to that." Ichigo replied.

"Did you give her your powers because she looks like Kuchiki-san?" Ishida reached up and pushed up his glasses with a nudge from his pointer finger as he spoke.

Ichigo didn't say anything for a moment. He wasn't sure how to answer the question. He decided to answer the question with another question. "Did you adopt her for the same reason?"

Ishida shook his head. "To be honest, I can't say one way or another. I know I wouldn't have left her there after the hollows attacked."

Ichigo turned his attention towards the sky. It had become night fall a while ago and even in a city as lit up as Karakura, a few bright stars dotted the sky. They sparkled like distant gems against the pure black background of space. Even if he was in the human world, there was no mistaking how much the sky reminded him of his home in Soul Society. The same stars that seemed to shine there also shone down on him now.

"Then you know the answer to your question." Ichigo softly said.

"Hmmm." Ishida murmured before he reached into the jacket of his suit.

Ichigo saw something being tossed towards him before he reached up and caught it out of midair with little effort. The cold of something metal was felt in his palm before he opened his hand and glanced down at the set of keys that now sat in the hand. A confused look crossed Ichigo's face as he glanced at Ishida. The Quincy calmly gazed back at the former substitute shinigami, his eyes not betraying any emotion or thought he might have been having.

"Well, for one thing; you're not going to be sleeping in my daughter's closet… Also I know you have nowhere to go." Ishida explained as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. "We have a R.V. parked around the back of the house. It's not much but it should offer you a place to sleep and I'm sure my wife is more than willing to feed you. Now go, and you better keep my daughter safe, Kurosaki, because I'll erase your soul from existence if you don't."

Ishida turned and started to walk up the long drive that lead to the main entrance of the hospital he was director of. Ichigo stared at the keys in his hand before glancing at Ishida's retreating back. He had honestly expected the Quincy to give him an ear full and tell him to stay away from his daughter. This development was shocking. Clenching the keys in his fist, Ichigo suddenly needed to know something.

"Why are you doing this?" Ichigo inquired.

Ishida stop but kept his back to the shinigami. "Because you are a man I still consider a friend."


	5. Chapter 5

Don't own Bleach, don't want to either so it works out good for me. Alright here is chapter 5 every one got it done a bit earlier then I expected too because originally this was only going to be half of the chapter. I made a slight last minute decision to include something I wasn't playing on and it seemed like the perfect way to end the chapter. My betareader** BeccaBaby** (She's awesome folks) got the chapter back to me fairly fast as well. This chapter is very plot eccentric, and starts to explain some of the things that are going on or have gone on. Hopefully it explains a few things I'm sure you readers wanted to know but it might leave you with more questions. Enjoy!

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The slight thud of wood hitting wood echoed in the air as another successful block had been thrown up just in time. Ichigo shifted slightly to his left, breaking the block, and brought his sword around, but he was quick to remember how slow his reactions where in a gigai. The former substitute shinigami's lower back quickly felt a slight sting as a solid hit landed there. It was more than a bit frustrating knowing he was way better than the sluggish movements his body made. What was really surprising was the fact that he kept getting hit. Slipping to his side, Ichigo readjusted his stance to face off against his opponent, the wooden sword held confidently in his hands. A smirk appeared on the lips of his opponent before another round of thuds echoed. This time it ended with Ichigo getting tagged on the shoulder.

"Is that really all you got, Deathberry?" Rukia laughed. "Or are you just taking it easy on me?"

Ichigo sighed, lowering his wooden weapon at the comment. "I think you should start to train against someone else. I just can't move in this gigai." Ichigo glanced down at his hand flexing it.

"Sure… That's your excuse. You must have been a pretty crappy shinigami if you don't stand a chance against me." Rukia's smile didn't fade as she smirked at him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, if only she knew how wrong that statement was. Kurosaki Ichigo after all was not only a captain, but was one of soul society's strongest. However, ever since that night more than a week ago, one of soul society's strongest captains still didn't feel right. His wounds from the fight with the hollow had healed, but the wound from the sword was still just as angry as that day he woke up at Urahara's. The former substitute shinigami was starting to get concerned over the fact that it wasn't healing, even after he used a healing kidou on it. Also his spiritual pressure wasn't returning, nor was his hollow powers, which worried him more than the wound at his side. It was as if he was stuck in the healing process, unable to get any better. Ichigo made a mental note to go talk with Urahara. Hopefully the shopkeeper would be able to do something to fix him. After all Urahara always seemed to know something about everything.

"I'd say he is a pretty crappy shinigami...He was better as a vizard."

Ichigo froze, his brain quickly reeling as he remembered the voice from so long ago. Spinning around on his heels, he glanced up at the blonde haired man standing upside down in mid air only a few feet away. Ichigo didn't remember when he had last seen Shinji Hirako but whenever it was he had still been in his teens. It wasn't that Ichigo had really quit being a vizard, it was more the fact that he had chosen the soul society. After the war, Yamamoto had cleared the vizard of all charges and had welcomed them to come back to soul society. Some things never change though, and the vizards declined. They returned to their warehouse to continue to live as they had been.

"Hirako…" Ichigo muttered watching the blonde haired former captain.

"Shinji, don't sneak up on us! Geez you're worse than a stalker!" Rukia rolled her eyes before raising a brow. "So you two know each other… Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Rukia seemed to take on a familiar tone when addressing Shinji. By the way she talked to him it seemed as if they had known each other for a long time. It confused Ichigo a bit. Why would she know the vizards? After all, they are a pretty reclusive group. Shinji seemed to ignore Ichigo and in a small burst of flashstep he appeared before Rukia upright this time. A wide grin was etched onto his face.

"Ah, but Rukia-chan, you hurt me so by calling me a stalker." Shinji dramatized as he grasped his chest. "Of course I know Ichigo; he is one of us after all. Don't tell me he hasn't told you?!"

Rukia shook her head before looking at Ichigo. "No, I've been waiting for him to tell me about himself. I guess I should just get more aggressive…"

Well that was news to Ichigo; he hadn't really talked about himself because _he_ was waiting for _her_ to start the conversation. He had said that he was going to tell her everything, but so far Rukia hadn't even showed any interest in knowing about anything. It was something that Ichigo had been wondering about, but apparently she was waiting for him. However, he had vaguely touched on the consequences of giving her his powers. Rukia had surprised him by knowing about most of the stories of the group's younger days. Apparently Orihime had used them as bed time stories, but she changed the names and places. As Rukia got older, she had learned the truth behind the stories, but was still left in the dark about certain details.

"That so? Now don't get too aggressive, soul society needs their Fifth Division Captain." Shinji babbled idly spinning a small pen that he had produced from his pocket. "It would seem that Soul Society has a problem losing their Fifth Division Captains, don't they, Ichigo?"

"You were offered the job back after Aizen was out of the picture." Ichigo reminded the former 5th captain.

"Wait, you are a captain, Deathberry?" Rukia held up her hand as if to stop both men from continuing before her question was answered.

"Deathberry? Oh I really like that nickname for you, Ichigo… It has a nice ring to it." Shinji commented, his smirk never fading.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Rukia had rarely called him by his actual name. She preferred to address him by her nickname for him. The name was starting to make the shinigami less aggravated every time he heard it, but being called by it from someone other than Rukia renewed his general dislike of the nickname. The orange haired man had been trying to convince his savior to somehow stop calling him by that name, but so far all of his attempts had proven to be futile.

"Yes, I'm the captain of the fifth division. Same squad as Hirako here once captained. Although I'm pretty sure I won't be a captain when I get back to soul society." Ichigo folded his arms across his chest.

Shinji reached up and scratched his chin. "It's a cursed squad I tell ya. Prone to go through Captains and vice captains like sand through an hourglass. Soul Society is a bit more forgiving then they were years ago: so you might get back in. If not... you are always welcome back with the vizards, my prodigal son." Shinji turned his attention back to Rukia. "Rukia-chan, would you be a dear and go get your still very attractive mother. I need to talk to her."

Rukia nodded. "Sure thing, Shinji."

With that the teenager headed back into the house leaving Shinji and Ichigo standing in the backyard. After watching Rukia go, Shinji's eyes came back to rest on his fellow vizard. Slowly Shinji's normal flippant attitude seemed to fade as his grin became pressed into a thin line on his face. The serious look in his eyes made Ichigo quickly realize that the vizard leader had something important to say and he didn't want Rukia to hear it.

"I don't think I've ever seen you move that slow, Ichigo, and giving away your powers because you couldn't fight a measly hollow doesn't sound like you at all… Something tells me you aren't feeling yourself. So, Ichigo, how _are_ you feeling?" Shinji inquired watching Ichigo like one would watch an opponent in a sword battle.

"Weak… Like something is zapping all my powers away." Ichigo figured he wouldn't lie. Shinji seemed to know something that he didn't.

"You can't hear his annoying voice in your head any more can you?" Shinji cryptically questioned.

The fifth squad captain knew that Shinji was talking about his hollow. "No," was all Ichigo could admit.

Shinji nodded as if he expected this reply from the former substitute shinigami. "You've tried to heal it?"

Ichigo sighed. "Yes, healing kidou doesn't do anything to it… Do you know something I don't, Shinji?"

Shinji reached up and adjusted the newsboy cap he wore with his finger. "I think so… One more question: Do you remember what happened that night?"

Ichigo just shook his head in response. He honestly didn't remember anything from the time he left his office at the 5th division to when he woke up and his savior was hovering over him. Ichigo knew in his head that he had been attacked and that it had been a shinigami who attacked him but the specific memories where lost to him. More than once he had kept himself well awake into the night trying to remember only to regain nothing. Shinji made a clicking sound and spun his pen in his hand.

"You were hunted by the same person who has been trying to kill all the vizards… Also I think you've been poisoned." Shinji explained sticking his pen back into his pocket.

"What? Why would be someone be hunting the vizards?" Ichigo exclaimed, shocked by Shinji's words.

"If I knew I'd tell you," A bit of anger seeped into Shinji's voice before he continued. "Love… Mashiro… Rōjūrō … Hiyori… They were all killed in the last 6 months by whatever tried to kill you. So far, you are the only one lucky enough to get away and live." A humorless smile appeared on his face. "Lucky bastard, but that might have something more to do with you giving your powers to Rukia-chan."

The orange haired man took a moment to process what Shinji had said. Again he tried to strain his memory back to the night of the attack with nothing to show for it. He had to wonder: why someone would be hunting the vizards? Yamamoto had cleared them of any and all charges held against them. They were even proclaimed to be heroes. It didn't make any sense for someone, shinigami or otherwise, to try to kill them. Glancing up at Shinji, the former substitute shinigami knew by the look on the vizard's face that Shinji wasn't lying about anything. Ichigo opened his mouth to start asking some more questions, but was quickly cut off by the arrival of Orihime and her youngest daughter.

"Orihime-chan," Shinji cooed in almost a singsong voice. "You look as lovely as ever." It was easy to tell by Shinji's tone that he was back to putting up that cheery facade he normally worn.

"Hello, Hirako-kun," Orihime addressed politely with a slight bow. "Is there something I can do for you?"

The vizard leader jerked his thumb in Ichigo's direction. "It's more a matter of what you can do for the both of us. I don't suppose I can convince you to head down to Urahara's place with me and Deathberry here."

Ichigo cast Shinji a hard look for calling him that name. "Don't call me that." Ichigo hotly retorted earning a slight chuckle from Rukia.

Orihime looked at the two vizard men before she nodded. "No, that's not a problem. Let me get a few things and change, meet me out front." She stated before she looked at her daughter. "Rukia-chan, will you please clean up the backyard before I get back?"

"Sure…" Rukia replied, not sounding terribly enthusiastic about cleaning.

"Actually…" Ichigo quickly interjected before Orihime could disappear inside. "If I help her clean up now would you mind if she came with us?"

Orihime shook her head casting a glance towards Ichigo and her daughter. "That's fine, just gives me a few more minutes to get ready."

With that said Orihime disappeared into the house. Rukia glanced at her shinigami teacher with a small smirk of thanks playing on her face. Ichigo nodded to her before moving to pick up the shinais (Kendo swords) as well as the two Bokken (Wooden swords) that Rukia owned. Gathering them up, he reached down to grab Rukia's Bōgu (Kendo armor). Ichigo had insisted that Rukia practice with him without the bulky gear to give her more of a feel for being a shinigami, but they always took the armor with them whenever they sparred. Apparently Rukia was school kendo champion, which explained her experience with a sword. Tatsuki had been the one to introduce the young girl to the sport and, as far as Ichigo had heard, Rukia had a natural talent for sword play. This was something that Ichigo couldn't argue with, but he still couldn't help feel that creeping sensation of familiarity that snuck into him whenever he sparred with the young kendo prodigy.

Rukia moved to pick up a few other things in the yard before she darted into the house. Ichigo followed his shinigami apprentice into the house and quickly headed for the stairs. Rukia's room was on the second floor of the house, two doors down from the top of the stairs. Letting himself into the room, Ichigo moved about it, putting things in their proper places. Rukia's room was one of the smaller rooms in the house, but she didn't seem to mind: she didn't have to much stuff to overcrowd the room with. Even though it was one of the smaller rooms in the house, it was about the size of Ichigo's old room back at his dad's house. Ishida made good money after taking his father's job at the hospital. Orihime had been playing the role of house wife, but if Ichigo remembered correctly, she had graduated with a degree in teaching. The 5th division captain was half surprised Orihime wasn't home schooling the kids, but from some of the academic awards that hung in Rukia room, it was clear that her kids were 'A' students.

A bed, a desk, and an oversized rabbit hutch were the main furniture in the light green colored room. There were a few bunny themed items decorating the room along with various Kendo and martial arts trophies. Tatsuki, from what Ichigo had heard, had trained all of Orihime's children in martial arts. The hutch contained a small Dutch rabbit with the name of 'Chip'; apparently this Rukia's obsession with rabbits was the same as the one that the Rukia he remembered had had. So far there was little about this Rukia that differed from his Rukia, and that was something that Ichigo didn't know if he was comfortable with.

"Is that everything?" Rukia questioned as she appeared in her doorway.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah."

Rukia gave him a strange look before she shut her door and leaned against it. Ichigo tensed as soon as he realized that he was trapped in Rukia's room with her. Rukia's eyes instantly fell to the ground as if she was uncertain about something which quickly caused Ichigo's tension to fade. Instead, he quickly became curious about the look in her eye. The shinigami had a feeling she was going to ask him something about his past, but about what exactly he didn't know. For a moment or two only the sound of Chip moving around in his cage was the only thing that could be heard before Rukia finally looked back up, directly into Ichigo's eyes.

"How did your wife die?" Her eyes seem to burn brightly with the desire to know what happened to Kuchiki Rukia.

Ichigo couldn't keep the pain out of his eyes, so he averted his gaze to look at the rabbit hutch instead. "…. Technically she died of the same disease that her sister had died of." Ichigo responded after a slight pause on his part.

"Technically?" Rukia asked, her tone was soft and she wanted to know more.

"Are you two ready to go?" Orihime most likely called from downstairs

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably as he felt the pain of his memories rise in his chest and sting at his eyes. Reaching up his hand came to dig into the area of his chest just above his heart as he vaguely tried to numb the emotional pain with psychical pain. He could feel Rukia's eyes upon him, as she awaited a clearer answer from him. The only problem was that he didn't know if he could just so willingly discuss the matter. Ichigo knew he had made a promise to tell her everything, but he hadn't thought that it would be this painful to tell her about the darkest point of his past.

"We'll be down in a second!" Rukia shouted to her mother through the door.

"… Her disease was just a factor, but she really died from the strain that was put on her body because of pregnancy." Ichigo finally looked back at Rukia, not trying to hide the pain he felt by those words.

Rukia's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing seemed to come out. After a few seconds seemed to drag on almost endlessly, Rukia finally turned and opened the door. Ichigo didn't know what she was thinking, but he just hoped it wasn't pity. He wanted anything but pity. Rukia paused in the threshold to glance back at Ichigo with a worried look on her face. Ichigo watched his savior take a deep breath and wet her lips.

"Did…" The raven haired girl paused trying to find the right wording for what she was about to ask. "Was the baby able to be born?"

Ichigo closed his eyes, his hand clenching over his chest. "_Babies_…" Ichigo put emphasis on the plural word. "Yes, they were born… but my little girl didn't last long after she was born."

"Are you two coming?" Orihime called as the sound of her footsteps coming up the steps could be heard.

Rukia bit down on her lower lip. "I'm sorry." she whispered before she turned and headed downstairs.

Ichigo watched her go then shook his head. "It's not your fault…" The words came out in what was barely a whisper and Ichigo didn't know if Rukia heard them as she disappeared from his sight.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ahhhhh, Kurosaki-kun! Welcome back to my humble establishment. You brought a lot of guests with you, I see. You know, you should have called ahead so that I could have prepared enough tea!" Urahara chanted in a merry voice as everyone arrived at his shoten.

To her left, Rukia watched Deathberry roll his eyes, but generally ignore the shop keeper's greeting. He had gone strangely quiet since they had left the house and Rukia knew why. She felt kind of sorry for him after all, she had backed him into a corner and then asked him about his wife. It was clear by his reaction that it was still a hard subject to talk about. Though it surprised her how well he had put himself together. You'd never be able to tell that just 15 minutes ago Deathberry had looked like he was going to break down and cry. Now he looked just plain annoyed by Urahara's flamboyant antics and was pretty much back to the scowling bad attitude he normally had.

"Now now, Urahara-san. You should know why we are here." Shinji had a smile on his face, but his tone was low.

Urahara glanced at the Vizard before looking back at Ichigo, as if studying him for a moment. Deathberry remained unflinching under Urahara's scrutiny even as the shop keeper came closer to him. Once satisfied with his exam, Mr. Hat and Clogs took a step back and adjusted the cap on his head.

"Well, you do have a point, Shinji,… but the real test… Let's see that wound of yours, Kurosaki-kun." Urahara raised his cane and with a flick of his wrist sent the very tip of it through Ichigo's forehead.

Rukia watched as body was separated from soul. The last time Rukia had seen the man in his soul form, he had been dressed in his black Shihakushō, but now he was in a strange white uniform. Ichigo didn't say anything before he slowly removed the white obi and exposed his chest for Urahara and the rest of the world to see. Slowly, he began to remove the bandages that covered his chest. Rukia couldn't stop the slight red tint that appeared on her cheeks as she had never seen such a well muscled man that close. Even through the bandages around his torso it was clear that Deathberry was well scrupled and had abs any girl her age would melt for. Still the fact that the orange haired shinigami had so many bandages covering up his side reminded Rukia of the night they had met. He had been pretty beaten up when she had found him in that alley.

With Ichigo's chest exposed a long chain that he wore around his neck could be seen. It held two slightly familiar looking rings upon it. Rukia knew she had never seen either ring before, but just something about them seemed familiar. The larger ring was made out of a white colored metal and seemed to be frosted as if it had been left in a freezing place for quite some time. The smaller ring was a contrast to the larger one being made out of a black metal instead and had gems on it that seemed to glow with a strange black energy. Along the outside of the dark band was frame of white and gold metal that strangely seemed to blend with the ring's overall design.

"Has it stopped bleeding at least?" Urahara inquired.

"No." Came Ichigo's almost monotone reply.

Ichigo tore off the last of the bandages and pulled away a crimson stained medical gauze pad to expose a very angry wound just under his ribcage that exited out his back. The wound still trickled blood and a bit of a pained looked appeared on Deathberry's face. To her left, Rukia heard her mom gasp slightly at the wound.

"Kurosaki-kun, you should have told me!" Orihime tone was flooded with worry for her friend.

Urahara rubbed his chin. "I'm actually glad he didn't." Urahara took a step back drawing forth his sword from his cane. "Whoever attacked you has the knowledge of poison that is on par with Mayuri-san," Urahara explained before he held up his sword. "Okiro, Benihime."

Deathberry eyed his former teacher's sword with apprehension. "What are you going to do?"

Urahara raised his sword and pointed it at Ichigo. "In case Mayuri ever turned on me, I of course needed a way to counteract his poison. I'm thankful that he never did, but I still invented a technique that removes poison from the body. It will remove the poison from your system…" Urahara all of a sudden got a wily kind of smile. "But I warn you now Kurosaki-kun… It's going to hurt."

Deathberry looked more than a bit apprehensive, but the shop keeper didn't give him very long to worry about his words before Urahara thrust the tip of Benihime into Ichigo's leg. Rukia watched Ichigo's eyes widen in surprise before he braced himself with a grunt. As his hands clenched at his side, as clearly he fought against the pain he was feeling. Rukia's heart sank seeing him in such a state, which caused her to carefully take a step forward. The teenager reached out and pressed her hand against the shinigami's arms in comforting matter.

* * *

_"Even if you cut me, you can't follow me in that state!" A distant voice taunted…_

_It was raining... Why it was raining Rukia couldn't remember, but it seemed to make the day all the more depressing. At her side was Ichigo, covered in blood and clutching an oversized katana in his hand. The look in his eyes was something of pure fury as he shook with rage. As if recalling some distant memory she knew this was one of the times she had seen him the most wounded. He shouldn't be able to stand, let alone continue to fight. _

_"Wait..!!!" Ichigo roared; the animosity clear as day in his shout. _

_"Ichigo!" Rukia snapped at him._

_Didn't he understand how injured he was? She had let him fight his battle of pride, but now it was over, if he continued, he could die. Her shout seemed to fall on deaf ears as Ichigo started to move like he was going to fight again. Pushing against him Rukia tried to hold him back, realizing how wet her hands were getting, but not from the rain…_

_"Enough already! Stop! You… Can't fight him anymore! This fight is over." Rukia called not knowing if it was the rain or if she did indeed feel tears start to roll down her cheeks at the sight of the man in front of her so wounded. _

_"Not yet…! He's still not dead. I can still fight.. Still…" Ichigo's words seemed to trail off… _

_"Ichigo!" Rukia could only admire his fighting spirit but he needed to stop this. _

_He seemed so ready to continue to fight, so ready to kill the thing that had trampled on his pride. To slay the beast that had taken away someone so precious to him. Suddenly all that heated passion that engulfed his very soul, seemed to sizzle out like a candle in the wind. The angry energy that surrounded him faded, causing Ichigo to stagger. It seemed like all of his wounds and blood loss had finally caught up to him and he collapsed forward. Rukia was shocked and almost didn't catch the limp body that suddenly fell towards her. He was a lot bigger and heavier than her, but she still managed to gently get him to the ground._

_"… Ichigo." Rukia said softly knowing he wouldn't wake up, his fight was over now… _

_Shaking her head at the foolish man that now lay in her lap, Rukia was just glad it was finally over with. She could finally start breathing after holding her breath for so long. Reaching forward she began to heal his wounds with a technique she had used too many times, but was only now remembering how to do. As she placed her hand over the wounded area, slowly his serious wounds started to heal and mend. She didn't know how long she sat there healing his wounds, but she felt a familiar presence step up behind her. She knew the person at her back, but his true identity eluded her like a dream after one woke up. She never turned to look at him either; she couldn't take her eyes off the man that lay unconscious in front of her. _

_"Nee-san…" He spoke softly and it was clear his voice held worry. _

_"Don't worry… A shinigami's life force is their amount of spiritual energy. To not die from these wounds… This idiot's strength is quite something. For being able to survive, Ichigo… Thank you." _

* * *

Rukia instantly removed her hand from Ichigo, her breath hitching in her throat. The young teen had no idea where that memory had come from, but she knew it wasn't her memory. It belonged to someone else. How it got in her head she wasn't quite sure but as she looked at the orange haired man in front of her; Rukia had to wonder if she had just seen the world through his wife's eyes.

"Got it!" Urahara suddenly boasted as he pulled his sword free from Ichigo's leg coated in a black substance.

"Son of a bitch." The shinigami swore as his hand fell to his leg to press against the wound.

"You okay Deathberry?" Rukia decided to ask earning her a venomous look.

"Do I look okay?" Ichigo shot back hotly.

Rukia rolled her eyes at him as she stepped up to the orange haired man. Deathberry continued his normal scowl before kneeling down to look at his leg as his hand traveled up to his chest and over his other injury. Ichigo was clenching his jaw so hard; it was easy to tell he was in pain and quite a bit of it. Out of the corner of her eye, Rukia noticed her mom take a step forward. Orihime's hands going towards the blue hairpins on the side of her head. But the memories she had just received seemed to stir her into action through before her mother had a chance.

Reaching forward she pulled Ichigo hand way from his raw injury, not caring about the blood that stained her fingertips. Using her other hand the teenager pressed her hand against Ichigo's injury as her hand took on an ethereal green glow. Instantly Ichigo's eyes shot up to meet hers, a confused look in them, but Rukia only concentrated on the task at hand. The more she poured her energy into healing, the more it felt like she could almost touch his soul and the closer she got to that, the more pain she could feel ebbing from it.

Rukia really didn't notice as the room got eerily quiet, or the fact that everyone was looking at her. Instead she just concentrated on the healing technique before finally looking up at the rings that dangled from his chest. There was something familiar about those rings, there was something familiar about Ichigo… But why these things where familiar Rukia just couldn't say, but it was starting to get irritating. It was as if she knew why everything was familiar, it was on the tip of her tongue, but it wouldn't come out. Letting go of Ichigo's hand, a sudden feeling of light headedness swept over her as she reached up and touched a spot on his chest.

"So, that's what the Grand Fisher did to you." In her daze, the young teenager didn't know why she had said that, but her world quickly became dark.

Rukia's body went suddenly limp, causing Ichigo to shoot out his hand and catch her before she even had a chance to hit the ground. He knew the others were looking at him and as he collected the young girl into his arm; he glanced in the direction of Orihime. Her words had been a mere whisper, but he had heard them clearly before she passed out… Grand Fisher… That very word normally made his blood boil, but not today. Rukia had knowingly or not touched the faded scar where he had been impaled by the beast almost 30 years ago. No one knew about Grand Fisher other than his Rukia…

"Inoue… Do you know Rukia's birthday?" Ichigo asked as he looked at the mother of the girl in his arms.

"January 14th…" Orihime quietly replied and gave Ichigo a strange look. "You didn't teach her kidou did you…?"

"No…" was all Ichigo could respond with.

Ichigo turned his attention towards the shop keeper, who had a grin on his face that might put the Cheshire cat to shame. Shinji seemed just as confused as everyone else. Ichigo fixed his gaze on Urahara, trying to decipher the meaning behind that smirk of his. Urahara knew something, what that something was Ichigo didn't have a clue.

"What do you know?" Ichigo questioned eyeing the shop keeper.

"Nothing really, but I have a theory… May I ask what she said to you before she passed out?" Urahara's tone was lively.

"Grand Fisher…" Ichigo said with some hesitation.

"I take it that has more meaning to you then as the name of the hollow that killed your mother… Or at least it seems to with that look on your face Kurosaki-kun." Urahara inquired quirking an eyebrow under that green and white hat of his.

Ichigo decided not to question how he knew that fact, only to nod his head. "She pointed towards the scar that I got from Grand Fisher… What do you know Urahara?"

Urahara reached up and ran his hand under his chin again. "Like I said, I don't know anything; I just have a theory. I'd rather not share it until I'm certain… But for now." He raised his sword up examining the strange ooze on the tip of it. "I should analyze this." The shop keeper turned to start to head into the back of the shop.

"Wait!" Ichigo called.

Urahara stop to glance back at his former student. "Yes, Kurosaki-kun."

"I need your basement… I want Rukia to learn Shikai and you said you'd help me train her." Ichigo explained.

The shop keeper smiled. "Sure, my place is always open for you and Rukia-chan, Kurosaki-kun." With that the shop keeper gave them a dismissive wave and headed to the back rooms.

"Hold this for me." Ichigo suddenly said handing Rukia's limp form to Shinji.

Shinji didn't say anything in response, just held the girl in his arms as Ichigo moved to throw on his white kosode. After securing the kosode around his person with his obi, the former substitute shinigami grabbed his gigai and stepped inside. He had to admit, he was feeling a lot better than he had in the last few days since he had been attacked. He could only reason that it had been because Urahara had removed the poison from his system that he had been healed. Flexing his hand, he took a second to get acclimated to being in a gigai again before he took Rukia from Shinji. She instantly seemed to cuddle up to him but Ichigo didn't let himself think too deeply on her movements in his arms.

"Thanks, Shinji…" Ichigo stated looking to the man who he thought of as another mentor.

Shinji smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "Think nothing of it Ichigo. I mostly wanted Urahara to find an antidote for that poison so I can kill the bastard who killed our fellow vizards… If you're around I might let you take a few whacks at him too." With that said, Shinji started to walk out of the shop.

Ichigo watched him go before turning his attention to Orihime. Orihime hadn't moved from her spot by the door, her eyes were on her daughter who seemed to be resting peacefully in the arms of her long time friend. Taking a step up to the mother of three, Ichigo could see the motherly worry in Orihime's eyes as she looked at her youngest daughter.

"She'll be fine… She just used up most of her Reiryoku." Ichigo tried to reassure the worried mother.

"I know… Just call it motherly worry for my children. Kurosaki-kun, would you mind carrying her home with us?" Orihime asked as she reached out and affectionately ran her hand down the side of her daughter's cheek.

"It's not a problem." Ichigo responded trying to sound reassuring.

"Thank you." Orihime turned and started to head out of the shop.

Ichigo offered the mother of three a nod of his head in response before he moved to follow after her. Ichigo matched pace with Orihime walking at her right side. As they walked, Ichigo noted Orihime seemed deep in thought so he didn't bother trying to strike up a conversation with her. Instead he tried to content himself to think of other things, things that didn't relate to either the Rukia he knew or once knew; but unfortunately his mind always seemed to find a way to relate it back to them. It was about the sixth time he tried to think of something non Rukia related before Orihime's voice cut him out of his pondering.

"This reminds me of back in the old days.. Granted Uryu or Sado-kun would be with us normally when we were all walking back from Urahara's shop." Orihime smiled looking up Ichigo.

Ichigo nodded getting the same nostalgic feeling now that Orihime mentioned it. "Yeah… How is Chad now days?"

"He's good, still happily married to that woman from Spain. His son is as big as he is now, strong as an ox like him too. Uryu and I got a visit from him a few months ago when he was here in Japan visiting relatives with his family. He told me to say "Hi" to you if we ever saw you again. He's really happy living in Mexico." Orihime reported then glanced at Ichigo. "So how is Renji-kun and Rangiku-san? And well everyone else in Soul Society?"

Ichigo gave a small smile. "Everyone in Soul Society is doing well. Can't say that it's the same exciting place it was when we were teenagers and something seemed to happen every other day though. The most exciting thing that has really happened is a few prisoners escaped like 2 years ago. It's been slow, but everyone is enjoying the peace. From what I heard from Ikkaku, Renji got really drunk one night and asked Rangiku out on date. She accepted and they've been dating for the past three years. Toushiro is the same as always but hasn't really been the same since Momo died. Every now and then you can see the pain in his eyes…"

"Sort of like you…" Orihime suddenly interrupted.

Ichigo took a deep breath and looked down at the girl in his arms. "Yeah, just like me."

"Anyways…" Orihime tone seemed to hint she wanted to change the subject to a more cheery one. "How is Daisuke-kun?"

At the mention of the name Daisuke, a small smirk rose on Ichigo's lips. "He's good, short, but that's okay. He's currently vice captain of 6th division." There was a hint of pride in Ichigo's tone.

"Who's Daisuke?" A voice mumbled from Ichigo's arms.

Ichigo looked down at Rukia as she shifted in his arms so she could bury half the side of her face into his chest. He didn't know what to do about the closeness of the girl in his arms. He honestly didn't mind it, but in his mind he kept repeating to himself over and over that this Rukia wasn't his Rukia. He had to keep his distance with this Rukia because he really didn't want to fall in love with a woman just because she looked like his former wife.

"Aren't we getting comfortable?" Ichigo announced giving the teenage girl a half annoyed look.

"… I have a headache and this feels better then staring up at your ugly mug…" Rukia snapped from his chest hitting him in the arm with her free hand.

"Well sorry, I can put you down so you don't have to look at me." Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"Don't bother, I'm comfortable this way." His savior seemed to snuggle into his arms even more. "Plus, you owe me for healing you. So, who is Daisuke?" Rukia asked returning to her original question.

Ichigo heard Orihime giggle and as he turned to look at her she only grinned up at Kurosaki. Clearly the interaction between the two of them reminded her of something humorous. Ichigo could only reason that their brief verbal confrontation had reminded her of the many 'lover spats' Ichigo and his Rukia had gotten into in the past. Even after they had been dating for years, they never really stopped finding little thing to argue about every now and then. The arguments were always harmless and rarely escalated, but it was just a quirky part of their relationship. Now Ichigo found himself having the same little fights with this Rukia… Would the similarities ever end?

Ichigo just sighed decided to answer her question rather than continuing to argue. "Daisuke is the name of my son."

Rukia yawned, closing her eyes again. "Tell me about him, Deathberry…"

Orihime gave Ichigo an attentive look as she too seemed to want to know more about his son. "Well, he's 17, kind of short for a boy his age at 5'2… I blame his mother's genes for that. Daisuke has my obnoxious colored hair and his mom's violet eyes. He's a lot more polite then either I or his mother and more standoffish too. He has been raised so that he will be succeeding his uncle as the head of the Kuchiki clan once Byakuya steps down. He's an expert at hand to hand fighting, and is surprisingly awkward with a sword. His shikai isn't a even a sword. He's an interesting kid…" Ichigo trailed off as he realized how even Rukia's breathing had gotten, she clearly had gone back to sleep.

Orihime smiled at her daughter before looking back up at Ichigo. "It's easy to see that you are a very proud father… I'm glad that Kuchiki-san was able to leave you one thing that brings you some joy. When I visited her that last time before she died, she had been worried about what would happen to you after she passed on. She didn't want you to be all alone." A sad kind of smile appeared on Orihime's lips.

Ichigo nodded as they continued on their way back to Orihime's house. A calm kind of silence lapsed between the two old friends. Rukia seemed comfortable in his arms and just continued to sleep until they reached the house. It was only after they were a few houses from reaching home did Orihime suddenly stop walking. Ichigo continued on a few steps before glancing back at Orihime. The shinigami's old friend gave him an unreadable look before looking at her daughter asleep in his arms.

"You know, for years I've always been trying to convince myself that Rukia-chan isn't like my best friend Kuchiki-san… Over the years, it's gotten harder to tell myself that day in and day out. I still love her like my daughter but I can't deny how similar she is. I imagine you notice too that it isn't just looks that my little girl shares with Kuchiki-san." When Ichigo didn't say anything Orihime continued. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, do you think it's possible for my daughter to be Kuchiki-san. After all we both know death isn't what it appears to be."

Ichigo turned away from Orihime's gaze to look down at the sleeping girl in his arms. "… Of course it's possible… And I'm fairly sure that that's the case here…"

"Really?" Orihime chirped as if pleased someone seemed to agree with her. "Why do you say that?"

Ichigo's eyes became hard and a bit cold. "My soul tells me it's her. Before Rukia died, she told me she'd leave her heart with me. It's that heart that tells me who she is deep down, but it's like looking at something I really want but I know I can never have."

Orihime looked at Ichigo, her eyes filled with sympathy. "You already love her don't you…?"

Ichigo sighed as if trying to release some of the burden that weighed so heavily upon his shoulders. "Please don't take this the wrong way Inoue, but I've been in love with your daughter since the moment we meet for the first time…"

* * *

**A word of advice to my readers. If someone wants to get you a puppy just say no. Sure they are cute and cuddly, but they also chew everything you own and have no idea how to go potty outside and even after a 2 hour walk they still are bouncing around the house like a 3 year old ADHD kid on energy drinks. Yeah so that is why I been slow with this chapter. I got a hyper active puppy named Oscar to deal with 24/7. Basically I sit down the type, I get about one sentence in then I'm up and chasing after Oscar for doing something. Hopefully you've all enjoyed this chapter. If you are feeling generous you could leave a review but no pressure. I hope to have the next chapter out a bit sooner next time but I can't make any promises because it's going to be a long chapter... **


	7. Chapter 7

Happy Easter everyone. I hope everyone enjoys this newest chapter of this crazy little fic I'm writing. I should have the next chapter up sooner next time because actually this is only half of the chapter I had intended to post. I cut it though figuring it'd be better in two sections. Thanks again to my betareader, **BeccaBaby**! She's awesome.

* * *

The bell rang. Like the starting gun for a race, students quickly vacated their desks, grabbing only what they needed as they darted off to head to lunch. Rukia watched them with little interest, remaining in her desk for the lull as everyone scrabbled for freedom from their learning experience. The rush didn't last long before only Rukia, Ichigo, and the teacher remained behind. Slowly getting to her feet, the in-training shinigami cast a look towards Deathberry. Ichigo returned her glance before he rose to his feet, pulling free the bento box Orihime had made for him that morning. Rukia had already grabbed her lunch during the mad dash and calmly started to head out of the classroom, the orange haired shinigami's footsteps echoing behind her.

"Kurosaki, can I talk to you for a minute?"

In an instant both of the shinigami froze as their eyes fell upon Ms. Obito. The teacher's face remained friendly making Rukia curious about what she wanted to talk to Ichigo about. The two students glanced at each other as if asking themselves the same question about what this was all about. Slowly Ichigo's mocha colored eyes fell back to the teacher as he gave a small nod of the head. Rukia remained in her place as curious about what the teacher wanted as Deathberry undoubtedly was.

"Saguwa, can you wait outside? This will only take a moment." The teacher calmly asked.

"Sure…" Rukia didn't try to keep the apprehension out of her voice. "Ciao Deathberry, I'll meet you up on the roof." Rukia dismissed herself with a wave, leaving Ichigo to his fate.

Stepping out into the hallway, it was quiet. Everyone had already hurried off to their spots to eat lunch, no doubt wanting to get as far away from the learning atmosphere that they could on their break. Not that Rukia blamed anyone for wanting to escape, because she herself didn't necessarily enjoy sitting in class. Moving down the hallway, the raven haired teenager was quickly joined by her older sister, Airi. It wasn't uncommon for the two girls to eat together at lunch. After all, Airi was more of the social butterfly. Many people were drawn to her while Rukia was more anti-social and was more the one to follow Airi for something to do. Almost all of Rukia's school friends were Airi's friends if one included Ichigo in that circle of friends. If one excluded Deathberry then all of Rukia's friends were also Airi's.

There was always an advantage to having a lot of your friends in a grade higher then you. For one, you were never picked on, a small luxury that Rukia enjoyed. Another being that most of the time they were very helpful with homework having already been there and done that. Rukia really only had one good friend that was her age and that was Chiyo, who had seen her through those awkward times last year when all of her friends had graduated to the high school. Chiyo was her best friend, and knew vaguely of Rukia's supernatural encounters, but it was unclear if she believed any of it. Airi was Rukia's real emotional anchor in her life; the two girls were close despite some differing views on things.

"Where's the shinigami?" Airi inquired, no doubt using the word shinigami because of the distinct lack of people around them.

"The teacher wanted to talk to him." Rukia responded lightly as she matched step with her sister.

Airi nodded in a kind of knowing way as they continued to walk. Airi didn't seem to have anything further to say, which seemed suspicious to the younger sister. There was just something about that look in her sister's eyes that made Rukia believe there was something Airi wanted to talk to her about. Whatever it was, Rukia decided to not push it, because she had a feeling it had something to do with Ichigo. Airi just really had never liked Ichigo. Deathberry had remained friendly, but it didn't seem to charm Rukia's older sister the way it normally would have, as if Airi held some sort of discomfort of the shinigami. Rukia could only believe this had something to do with Deathberry transferring his powers to her. Airi had always been the one to protect Rukia up until this point so maybe she saw Ichigo as a threat to that.

"I heard he's been training you to learn Shikai…" Airi seemed to take interest.

Rukia looked at her older sister not expecting that topic. Ichigo had been training her to learn shikai for the past week after school, but it had been met with little success. It wasn't like she wasn't trying, but for some reason she just couldn't get to this 'inner world' he kept talking about. It was like something was stopping her from reaching that location. Urahara said it could be because of the fact that some of Ichigo's spiritual pressure still resided in Rukia and offered to use another method, but Ichigo had violently objected to Urahara's suggestion.

"Yeah he has, but I guess I'm just not as cut out to be a shinigami…Or a quincy." Rukia's tone was soft.

"Training not going so well?" Airi asked as they started up the stairs that led to the roof.

"No.. I… "

Rukia was about to elaborate on her experiences in the basement of Urahara's shop before every fiber of her body suddenly felt weighted. Her bright violet colored eyes snapped towards her sister's grey ones as she too felt the unnatural pressure. Never in Rukia's life had she felt something so powerful and almost suffocating, yet evil at the same time. She knew this was a hollow, but what kind of hollow produced this kind of evil aura? Being the daughter of spiritually aware parents, Rukia had felt a lot of hollows in her 15 years of life, but this one was by far the strongest and most repulsive feelings she ever had the displeasure of feeling. It made her skin prick and her heart race a little faster at the ominous evil presence. Taking a deep breath, the shinigami in training tried to calm herself, but it had mixed results.

Airi took a step back her left hand flicking to her side as her Quincy pentacle fell into the center of her palm. Clearly Rukia's sister was ready to fight, but for a moment Rukia felt powerless. She couldn't escape her body without Ichigo's help and if the monster attacked she'd be helpless to do anything. Almost as if sensing her sister's discomfort, Airi reached into her bag and produced a few silver tubes branded with the Quincy cross. Tossing them to her sister, Airi looked around and pinpointed the location of the vile evil that seemed to hang so thickly in the air.

"Come on, your shinigami can find us." Airi instructed as she started back down the stairs.

Rukia didn't bother to protest as she followed quickly after her big sister. The teenager could only count her blessings that this hollow had decided to attack now instead of in the middle of history class. So far Ichigo had to excuse them several times from class to go run off and fight the supernatural evil ghosts. These disappearances didn't go unnoticed by Rukia's classmates. Rumors had been flying around school about Ichigo and Rukia's relationship since the week before Rukia openly admitted to there being a relationship between the two of them. Upon hearing this Deathberry didn't protest, but he did end up choking on his sandwich to the point Rukia thought for a moment that the spirit was going to die for a second time.

As they slipped out of the building in a hurry, their haste only seemed to attract minimal attention from their fellow student body that was scattered throughout the school grounds. Within a matter of minutes they slipped out the main gate of the school and into the streets of Karakura. Disappearing in the middle of the school day did attract the attention of teachers, but their dad had spoken with the district. If they needed to disappear there was little the school could do to stop them. Rukia could only thank their understanding father for this rare privilege. Granted, before Ichigo came along, Rukia rarely used this privilege because of the fact that she had little power to stop a hollow.

They had barely reached a block away from the school before Airi instantly put her arm out and stopped both of them. Rukia shot her sister a confused look before the air around them seemed to thicken quickly into the fog they had felt just moments ago on the stairs. Spinning around, the teenager girl felt the monsters approaching her, seconds before the creatures could actually be seen. There were two of them. The same sickly evil stench that fogged the air seemed to poor from each of their bodies. Large bone white masks shaped like some sort of mystical dragon-like creature framed their faces coupled with their scaly and stocky bodies gave them an interesting look. The creatures looked like copies of one another except one was white while the other was black. Dark yellow eyes sized up both girls from behind their masks as the two hollows took up positions to the front and back of the girls. Rukia held her head high refusing to show any sign of weakness she felt. Airi was at her back, tensing as she got ready for the battle.

"Look what we found, Brother dear, two human girls with such delicious spiritual power and not a shinigami in sight." The hollow that spoke was behind Rukia and his voice seemed slightly high pitched even for a hollow.

The masked black spirit in front of Rukia never took its eyes off her as it nodded its head. "Yes, fortune smiles on us, Brother. But I wouldn't have minded a shinigami dinner tonight." The hollow's voice was deep and seemed to almost giggle with uncontainable glee.

Rukia glared at the boldness of the hollow in front of her, already disgusted by the creature's repulsive nature. There was nothing about hollows that Rukia had sympathy for, she had the same views on the creatures that most Quincy held. After all, her parents had died because of these creatures. She had a reason to have such a strong level of animosity. The hollow would have killed her too if Ishida hadn't stepped in and killed them. Clutching the silver tubes in her hand, she reached into her back pocket drawing the other tubes she normally carried with her. Even after becoming a shinigami, bringing the tubes with her had become such a habit that she still did it.

"Actually your luck has run out hollows, because today you have crossed the path of a Quincy." Airi spoke, not bothering to mask her Quincy pride.

Rukia felt the drop of Reiryoku around her as Airi absorbed the free spiritual particles in the air and solidified them into her Quincy weapon. Rukia could always marvel on the ability that her father and sibling had to absorb spiritual particles from the air. She knew how the ability worked, and with a weapon like a Seele Schneider she could replicate it, but forming a bow was on a level Rukia just couldn't master. A low laugh echoed from both beasts as they watched the two girls, clearly not threatened by Airi's words at all.

"Quincy? I wonder if that'll make you tastier than a shinigami?" The white hollow taunted, smacking his lips with a wet sound.

"It might if they are both women. Women are just so much more…. satisfying." The black hollow licked its lips and it wasn't a far stretch of the imagination to figure out what he was thinking about as he eyed Rukia.

Rukia could only return the hollow's ravenous look with a heated glare. "Nee-san, let's kill these two Quincy style."

Airi gave a small laugh as she drew her bow and pointed it at the white hollow in front of her. "And here I thought you shinigami held more mercy for hollows."

Rukia's mind went over the incantations for the Gintō she was so surprisingly proficient at. "I was a Quincy before I ever was a shinigami."

The world seemed to be holding its breath as a few painful seconds ticked by. Both sides were waiting for something to happen before they acted but what they were waiting for seemed to be a mystery to both sides. Rukia shifted her stance, the silver tubes laced in between her fingers, ready to be used. The hollow in front of her swayed to his left, flicking his rope like tongue out of his mouth and letting it side across the teeth on the mask. Rukia could see the lust for the bloodshed reflected in the eyes of the beast before her as it got ready for its assault. It was the sound of a car honking across the street that acted as the starting gun for the battle. Rukia darted forward just as the hollow charged, circling to her left. Switching one of the silver tubes from her left hand to her right; Rukia activated the strange Quincy device with her own spiritual pressure. It quickly warmed under her fingertips, proving that it was ready to be used.

The hollow stopped sending a spray of spikes from the stegosaurus-like tail that lumbered behind the hollows. Out of the corner of her eye, the teenager caught the bright flashes of blue light that came with the firing of Airi's bow. Rukia was quick to dodge to her right, the spikes barely missing her as she concentrated on the incantation that called forth the activation of the cylinder in her hand. Sliding her foot back, Rukia tossed the cylinder as she began the chant.

"Divide the scarred shield, calling forth the ebony storm—Silver spear! Dringen Sie Ein!" Rukia chanted quickly.

The silver tube crackled with energy before the container that contained all the spiritual energy melted into a silver javelin. As it was propelled by Rukia's own mind, the javelin hovered just inches above the ground a second before shooting off like a miniature rocket towards the body of the hollow. The hollow reacted instantly and seemed to melt from existence as the javelin sailed over the strange pool it had condensed itself into. Rukia's eyes widened. She had never met a hollow with the ability to melt like that. The pool the hollow had condensed himself into seemed to slither closer to her like a serpent at a very fast speed. Rukia's instinct told her to get away from the thick goo that was coming towards her and she didn't have any reason not to comply.

Moving quickly away from the pool, Rukia shifted another one of the silver tubes from her left hand to her right, her mind trying to decide the best Gintō to use in this particular situation. It wasn't like she had ever trained for being attacked by a liquid and she had a sinking feeling something similar would happen if she tried to use another physical attack. Her hesitant thinking only served to close the gap between her and the hollow as it slithered forward in front of her. Rukia was only half as prepared as she normally would have been when the hollow seemed to suddenly materialize from the pool and lung like a lion onto its prey. Rukia moved to her side, but the hollow caught her arm with his claws leaving a deep gash in its wake. Pain bloomed from the wound causing the teenager to cringe, but she kept her focus on the hollow she was battling instead of becoming distracted by the pain.

The hollow spun around as soon as its lunge failed, and quickly swung its body around to face its prey. Rukia's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the evil spirit pick up its clawed foot and lick the blood that covered it. A look of delight shown in the glowing yellow eyes of the hollow as it seemed to savor the taste of her blood. This was something that made Rukia's stomach turn as she realized just how much the hollow seemed to be enjoying all of this. Never in her life had she met a spirit that turned her stomach as much as this one did.

"You taste so wonderful… I can't wait to feast upon you. So why don't you end this struggle now. I'll make your death quick." The evil spirit seemed to purr with his deep voice.

"Not on your life! A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed - Quintuple Restraining Frames! Gritz!" Rukia threw the silver tube at her foe.

The thrown cylinder reacted almost immediately, bursting forth with blue light in a star shaped pattern as silver suddenly encased the hollow completely. Rukia took a deep breath as the hollow was successfully sealed away for the moment. Knowing it would take a few moments for it to get out of its confines; Rukia turned her attention to her sister. Airi appeared to be having similar difficulties with the hollow she was fighting. It had turned into a pool, but Airi just kept sending arrows after the beast as she tried to draw it out. Finally, the hollow lunged out from the pool trying to catch Airi off guard, but Rukia's sister was ready for it and sent a fast stream of arrow at it. A shriek of pain erupted from the hollow as its left leg became nothing more than fodder for Airi's arrows.

Rukia had to admit she was impressed with her sister's skill. Airi was everything a Quincy should be, calm, focused, precise, and determined. The hollow quickly backed up after Airi had landed a solid hit on it. Airi was shifting to get a better angle for her next attack and was quick to send another couple of arrows after her opponent. The threat of being pierced by another arrow made the hollow quickly melt back into the ground. Not hearing the normal thuds that normally came with a hollow trying to escape, Rukia found herself more focused on watching Airi then the silver container that trapped the hollow she had been fighting. Thick ooze seeped from the binding of the silver container as the hollow slowly freed itself. It had pooled at the front of the container before Rukia caught sight of the thick liquid out of the corner of her eye. By the time she reacted, it was already too late. The hollow leaped forth from the pool directly at the raven haired teenager. There was no doubt that the monster would have put her in a horrible position if not for the sudden appearance of a certain orange haired man.

Ichigo seemed to have braced himself properly against the attack, the fangs and teeth of the hollow digging into his left arm. Ichigo's face showed no pain, only determination as he cocked back his right arm and sent his fist square into the side of the hollows face. The hollow instantly let go and flew back from the very real force of the assault. Deathberry shook his right hand like someone would after hitting something very hard. His left arm now sported fresh wounds, but he didn't seem to care in the least about the new injury. Kurosaki Ichigo appeared to be just a gluten for punishment. When he turned around Rukia found herself facing the most heated glare her shinigami teacher had ever given her.

"Were the hell have you been?!" Ichigo roared.

"Right here, fighting that hollow." Rukia stated in a matter of fact tone.

Deathberry's glare only intensified.

"You could have at least waited for me! What the hell are you doing fighting a hollow without being a shinigami first?!" Ichigo snapped.

"Well excuse me, but I wasn't alone. Also, I can fight without you!" Rukia sneered in response.

"Would you two save your lover's spat for later? Shinigami, turn my sister into one of you and get out of here…" Airi called over her shoulder her voice more annoyed than anything else.

They might have glared in Airi's direction for a comment like that, but the hollow seemed to take that moment to launch a wave of spikes at the two shinigami. Ichigo reacted faster than Rukia, pushing his hand through her chest and exiting soul from body. Grabbing the limb body before it could fall to the ground, Deathberry gathered it into his arms and moved away leaving Rukia clear to deal with the evil spirit. In a flash of silvery metal, the teenager unsheathed her sword and cleanly sliced through spikes that threatened to impale her. Shifting her stance, she brought up her blade and moved to slice through the hollow that came charging at her. Her blade met nothing but air as the hollow liquefied again and slipped under her attack.

The hollow slipped behind Rukia in its goo state and quickly materialized at the shinigami's back. Spinning around, the teenager was thrown into defense mode because she was barely able to bring up her blade as the hollow loomed down upon her. Using her left hand to brace her blade, the hollow pushed against it as he bit down. Rukia could feel her small frame being pushed back by the shear strength of the beast she was battling. Making a quick decision, she jumped back to reposition herself. The hollow reached up rubbing the sore spot on its mask where Ichigo had hit it before melting once again into the ground.

Rukia watched the hollow slither towards her again in its liquid state, which caused the teenager to bring up her sword and stab the very center of the ooze. The viscous liquid split apart instantly dodging the blade. Rukia was about to pull her Zanpakuto up to try another angle of attack before a tendril shot up from the ooze and wrapped around the shinigami's arm. Rukia panicked, pulling against the tendril as the hollow started to solidify again and the tendril turned into the evil spirit's tongue. The mouth of the hollow was the next thing to solidify as it used its tongue to reel Rukia in to its gaping orifice. Panicking, Rukia pulled her zanpakuto free, and slashed the tongue to free herself as the sudden lack of tension caused her to fall back and onto the ground.

Rukia could feel her heartbeat ringing in her ears. It was so loud that it dulled the shriek that the hollow gave as it tossed its head back in pain from the loss of its tongue. Rukia quickly tried to get to her feet, and felt like her heart was about to explode, it was beating that fast. The hollow was quick to recover as it growled and turned its attention back to Rukia. There was malice in its eyes now, this was no longer a game to the hollow. It wanted Rukia dead. Swallowing thickly, Rukia managed to get to her feet. Fear was eating at her like a parasite and the teenager wanted nothing more than to run rather than face this evil abomination. Rukia heard Ichigo yell something to her, but it was lost as the hollow charged again. Rukia's instinct told her to move, but her body was rooted to the ground in an absolute paralyzing fear. The hollow's mouth opened again, threatening to consume her. All she could see was the dark void that would soon engulf her.

Then everything went black…


	8. Chapter 8

Okay here is the next chapter. I've had a lot of misfortune with this story. First I switched my computer and for some reason I couldn't get the file that had this story transferred. After I finally got it transferred I just got super busy with my life, then I'll admit I completely forgot about the story. So sorry guys. I had to go back and remember what I wanted to do with this story and I'm not super sure exactly what I want to do with it. So anyone who wants to step up and help me figure things out I'll give them the other chapters I have rewritten past this... If not I'll just wing it until I get a kewl idea as to how to end this story. Also I might need another editor... Anyways Enjoy, this chapter doesn't have such a bad cliffy.

-Kadington

* * *

A cool breezed washed across Rukia; bringing with it the strange smell freshly fallen snow. It was comfortable here, like that daze someone had just as they wake up from a wonderful dream, but this wasn't a dream. In an instant the fear returned and Rukia eyes shot open and stumbled to her feet. The sight that greeted her was not of the street were they had been fighting the hollow nor was the hollow even there. No, this area was serene and calming far from the chaos she had just left. From what Rukia could tell she was on some type of cliff that overlooked a beautiful frozen sea that seemed too stretched out endlessly as far as she could see. The cliff it's self was most covered in blanket of snow that stretched on for a while before the ground erupted into a forest about 10 yards from the edge of the cliff. One solitary tree bigger than all the ones in the forest stood next to her, it's roots stretching far out and even over the cliff as strange white colored blossoms shaded the cliff face. The tree itself seemed to be made out of snow and ice, and would caused snow to rain down from its branches instead of leaves.

"Where am I?" Rukia wondered out loud not expecting an answer.

"I was hoping you'd at least recognize this place…" A voice answered.

Rukia instantly stepped back, her feet crunching against the snow as she got into a defensive stance. For a world as cold looking as this one, Rukia felt strangely comfortable. Neither too cold nor to warm… Even so Rukia's breaths came out in clouds in front of her face as if the world was really as freezing and only she was unaffected. Looking around for the owner of the voice, Rukia's body remained tense like a coiled spring. She didn't trust anything right now and being in a strange place with a mysterious voice wasn't doing much to lessen her fears. Finally a figure stepped for from behind the snowy tree, casting a quizzical glance in Rukia's direction.

She looked beautiful… Far more beautiful than anyone Rukia had ever seen. She wasn't like super model beautiful; no, she more reminded Rukia of some sort of fairy tale beauty that seemed to impossible in the real world. Her skin was pale only holding a slightest peach color to it when contrasted against the snowy white color of her hair. Clothing her was a complex looking white kimono that was accented with pastel colors. This made her overall appearance seem frankly white. Along with the quizzical look that played in her light blue eyes there was also a mix of sadness that could be seen reflected in them. Rukia suddenly felt guilty for no reason other than the fact she seemed to be the cause of the sadness in the beautiful figure's eyes.

Slowly Rukia let her guard down, feeling at ease with the maiden in front of her. "Who are you?"

The maiden seemed to sigh taking a few more steps forward towards Rukia. "You don't even recognize me either…" The disappointment was event in the beautiful figure's tone.

Rukia hesitated. "Do I know you?"

"Do you?" The maiden questioned giving Rukia a soul piercing look.

Rukia's eyes widen at the response. There was something in her heart that seemed to tell her that the maiden before her was not only familiar but a trusted friend. Studying the figure in front of her, her mind try to recall the name of the person before her but nothing seemed to come to mind. The maiden said nothing to indicate who she was, but she slowly brought up the sleeve of her fancy kimono and hid the lower half her face behind the white fabric. Rukia couldn't help but focus on the sleeve, as her mind slowly started to put together the jigsaw that was her memories. Rukia eyes widened as the pieces clicked together.

"Sode No Shirayuki…" Rukia gasped not exactly knowing how she knew that. "You're my zanpakuto."

Sode No Shirayuki slowly lowered her sleeve, a smile lingering on her lips that dispelled the sadness in her eyes. "Correct."

Rukia spun around taking in the world around her. "And this is my inner world."

The maiden gave an encouraging nod. "Correct as well."

Rukia took in the feeling of being in her inner world. After trying to gain access to this inner chamber of her soul for so long, it now felt gratifying to finally be there. Rukia had never known what to expect her world to be like and now that she was here it definitely lived up to the minimal expectation she had given it. It was as beautiful as the maiden that inhabited it. Also her spirit was far cooler then Rukia had imagined her to be. Ichigo had told her that the spirit would be human like and be a reflection of her soul, but she never imagined to have such a beautiful person be her reflection.

"You're beautiful." Rukia admired.

Sode No Shirayuki's smile seemed to warm. "As are you." There was no sarcasm in her voice, just complete honesty. "And to _him_ you are the most beautiful one of all." Her words seem cryptic before her smile seemed to wane. "Unfortunately there is much I need to tell you, and we have little time to do so."

Rukia realized the seriousness in Sode No Shirayuki's tone and nodded to encourage her to tell her what she needed to say. "I'm ready."

"First off, there are some secrets I must keep from you until you are ready to learn them. As you are now, there is no way I can tell you everything. The next thing you need to know, is don't ever resist those memories you feel. They are natural and why you have them will be explained to you some day." At this moment Sode No Shirayuki paused to watch Rukia and only seemed to continue after she got a nod of confirmation. "The last thing you really need to know is that you are in danger. I pulled you here to calm you down from the intense evil aura that is coming off that hollow. It was causing you to lose focus, and you will die if you can't overcome your own fears."

Rukia blinked, surprised written in bold letters across her face. She could remember that grasping fear that seemed to have an icy hand on her heart. How she saw the hollow coming and how her feet seemed glued to the ground. She was going to die… Instantly her chest started to tighten at the notion. She didn't want to die; she didn't want to leave everyone behind… She didn't want to leave Ichigo behind. Her eyes focused on the spirit of her zanpakuto pleading for help from this overwhelming fear that continued to grip her very soul. Falling to the snow covered ground; Rukia clenched her chest trying to swallow back the fear. Her eyes falling upon the snow as she looked for something else.. Anything else, to focus on.

"Calm you're self Rukia-sama…" The spirit's tone was sharp and demanded to be listened to. "You aren't alone in this battle for I fight by your side"

Rukia looked down in her hand as it seemed to suddenly grip the dark reddish-brown handle of Sode No Shirayuki's blade. Holding up the blade it seemed to cool in her palm as reminder to the new shinigami that her sword was indeed there fighting alongside of her. Taking a deep breath, she took her gaze away from the blade to look up at the maiden only to realize the spirit was no longer there. A confused look crossed Rukia's face before her violet eyes feel back to the sword in her hand. Sode No Shirayuki was no longer over there because she was here. Collecting herself, the teenage shinigami slowly rose to her feet and steadied her nerves.

"It's time for us to go. Rukia-sama, don't fear anything. You have too much you need to live for, to worry about being scared." The voice of Sode No Shirayuki was nowhere but everywhere at the same time.

The world around Rukia seemed to melt away before there was a quick snap and once again Rukia found herself staring down open maw of a hollow. She would have to react fast if she was going to avoid being lunch for the hollow. Just as the mouth threatened to inhale her, Rukia simply disappeared. The hollow completed its lunge, its jaws snapping around thin air as it faltered head first into the ground. Rukia reappeared behind the hollow with a successful shunpo. Flicking her sword to her side, the violet eyes that seemed to hold such overwhelming fear moments ago held nothing but determination within them. Rukia wouldn't let herself be beaten by this hollow.

'_Let me lend you some of our power' _

"Mae…" Rukia whispered.

The voice of Sode No Shirayuki rang in her head as her muscles seemed too moved into a familiar stance. Rukia wouldn't say she had no control over the movements but it was as if she was doing something she had long forgotten to do. Putting her hand near the guard of her blade she quickly ran her hand down the length of the blade turning it white and seeming to brush off the steel grey covering of the sword if puff of snow.

"Sode No Shirayuki!" Rukia spoke her sword's name with pride.

The shout spurred the sword's pummel to lengthen as a white ribbon with a mind completely of its own appeared at the end of the sword. The sword felt surprisingly natural in her hand, for it was as if she had used the sword her whole life. Even the weight to the sword seemed nonexistent, like the blade was nothing more than an extension of Rukia's arm. Maybe if Rukia hadn't been focused on the battle she had to fight, she might have fallen over laughing at the shocked look on Ichigo's face. If there was any doubt left in Ichigo's heart that this Rukia wasn't Ichigo's Rukia it all vanished upon seeing that white sword in the hands of the teenage Rukia.

Rukia moved forward to intercept the hollow before it could fully recover from it fall. Her blade once again met nothing but air as the hollow quickly melt into the ground, but Rukia had been expecting this. Her blade arched in a circle over head of the hollow before she shunpo forward. The hollow had no clue what was happening as the ground around it began to glow with a bright white light and freeze. Rukia glanced back behind her with an apathetic gaze as she let her sword come to rest upon her shoulder.

"Some no mai… Tsukishiro" Rukia uttered calmly as a great pillar of ice engulfed the glowing spot on the battle field.

The hollow was incased in ice before it could utter a scream of pain or terror. The ice pillar lingered on the battle field for the span of a few heart beats before it cracked and crumbled to the ground, the frozen hollow inside already defeated long before the ice broke. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rukia looked over just as Airi finished off the hollow she had been fighting with the aid of a Seele Schneider. The specialized Quincy weapon was lanced through the hollow's mask. The hollow was letting out a shreik of pain as it clawed at its mask, trying to do anything to save its self from its own demise. Slowly the hollow faded into nothing erased from existence forever. Rukia was just about to smile before a great rumbling sound caught Rukia attention a dark gate seemed side forth from the ground. On each side of the gate, a skeleton with strange bandages were mounted. Each skeleton was reaching across itself into the crack that divided the two doors of the gate. Near the top of the gate chains that held the gate shut suddenly cracked and broke.

"What in the world is that?" Rukia asked as she took a step back from it.

Ichigo appeared by her side, his gaze transfixed upon the gate in front of him. "It's hell…"

Rukia looked at him the confusion evident in her eyes. "Why is it here?"

Ichigo glanced at her out of the corner of her eye as he folded his arms across his chest. "A zanpakuto can only cleanse the sins a hollow has committed after they become a hollow. Hollow who have committed terrible sins in their lives forfeit their afterlife to spend their eternity in hell" Once again Ichigo's eyes shifted towards the imposing gate.

Rukia couldn't help but swallow thickly as the chain broke away and the doors started to creak open. Part of Rukia wanted to run again but bravely she remained in her spot, drawing bits of strength from the white sword in her hand as well as the orange haired man at her side. The doors opened about half way before a dark figure could be seen just on the other side; suddenly a great sword was thrust out by a tattooed arm. A dark laughter echoed from the gate as the hollow Rukia had been fighting was impaled by the sword and dragged into the confines of gate. The gate closed with a rush, sending a blast of air over both Quincy and Shinigami. As soon as the gates shut, they suddenly began to crack fading from existence as if they were never there in the first place.

"... I never thought that there was a fate worse to a hollow then getting killed by a Quincy…" Airi voice was clearly shocked.

Ichigo exhaled slowly. "Unfortunately… There is…"

Airi didn't have anything to say in response as she stepped forward and picked up the Seele Schneider she had used on her hollow. Rukia watched her sister collect herself before she once again glanced down at the pure white sword that was now in her hand. A sense of pride swelled up in her chest that she achieved this shinigami milestone before paused and looked at Ichigo with a strange look. Now that she got the thing in shikai; how was she suppose to get it back into its sealed state? A small warm chuckle echoed in the back of her head and Rukia could have sworn in her mind's eye she saw a small smile linger upon Sode No Shirayuki's lips.

'_Pull your reiatsu back from the blade.. Oh, and can you tell your Deathberry that he is waiting for him. If he looks confused tell him that I told you to tell him. He should get it then' _

Rukia nodded to the voice as if she was actually talking to a person in front of her. Bring her blade up; she started to remove her reiatsu from the blade. As she pulled back her spiritual energy, the blade's whiteness faded and became the normal blade Rukia was more use to. Slowly the teenager sheathed the blade, letting her hand go off of it as soon as she heard the small click of the sheath hitting the guard of the sword. The sound of the bell that announced that lunch was done rang from the school down the street. Looks like Rukia would be skipping lunch again today. A sighed passed forth from Rukia's lips as she stepped into her body. As soon as she was back in her body, the sting in her arm returned.

Letting her hand come to rest against the raw area, a bit of fresh blood mingled with the grainy clotted blood of her arm. Ignoring the increased sting the wound gave once her fingers touched it, Rukia instead focused on the healing kido she strangely knew. Slowly the string resided as the wound responded to the healing. Even with the wound healed there was still blood all over that side of her school uniform and it was ripped. Hopefully Rukia's mom wouldn't have any trouble mending it. Airi looked a bit tired but had no psychical injuries on her. Ichigo on the other hand looked the worst of them all. His mangled arm sat limply at his side as he played with his cell phone in his other hand. His knuckles were bleeding too, no doubt from having to hit the ton of bricks that had been that hollow.

"Oy! Deathberry, are you just going to stand there bleeding all day?" Rukia demanded as she moved to stand by his side.

"YingYang… The twin hollows." Ichigo muttered as he closed his phone and gazed in the direction the Hell Gate had disappeared. "… That explains it. They've been avoiding Shinigami for the past 60 years."

Rukia didn't like being ignored like that. So she kicked him.

Ichigo's jaw locked before his eyes turned towards the petite teenager at his side. "Can I help you?" His voice was a mixture of a growl and sneer.

"Yes you can, first thing you can do is give me your arm. You're pretty a special brand of idiot to jump in front of hollows like that. You know that?" Without even getting his permission Rukia grabbed Deathberry's arm pressing her glowing hand against the wound.

"Oh I'm sorry, I just let the hollow eat you next time; this is your fault you know." Ichigo venomously replied before he jerked his arm free from her. "I can heal it myself, midget!"

The 'm' word earned the shinigami another kick from said midget.

Rukia rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm again and continued to heal it. "Thanks by the way."

Ichigo scoffed. "Whatever.. You find something amusing Airi?"

Rukia turned her attention from Ichigo's arm to her sister. Airi had a lingering smirk on her lips as she only shrugged at Ichigo's question. Shifting her school bag on her shoulder, her smirk became aimed at Rukia. Rukia knew her sister found her and Deathberry's interaction amusing and the teenage shinigami knew she'd be hearing something later about it.

"Well I should be returning to class, you two should head home and change… But do you need a chaperone? After all I don't know if I should be leaving you two alone." Airi smirk never wavered as she spoke.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Might I remind you Airi that Deathberry is as old as mom and dad?"

"He doesn't look that way…" Airi said in a sing song voice before she turned and headed off back to school.

Rukia watched her sister leave; holding her glare in the direction her sister had disappeared for a few seconds. After Airi was long out of her sight, she spun her head around to look at Ichigo. Ichigo wasn't look at her but she had a feeling something had upset him. She could just read it across his face, granted she could read him surprisingly well. He seemed in some sort of funk and she had a feeling trying to pry the information about what was upsetting him wouldn't work. So she decided to go with the rogue thought that happen to pass her brain. She kicked him again.

"Son of a bitch.. Would you stop that! If you are going to heal me then do so and stop trying to inflict more damage!" Ichigo shouted his angry gaze on her.

"Well stop looking so sad and I wouldn't feel the need to knock you around!" Rukia retorted before pulling her hand away from his now healed arm. "Oh and I was told to tell you _He_ is waiting for you."

A look of confusion replaced his almost sorrowful look. "Who told you this?" His suspicion was event in his tone.

"Sode No Shirayuki." Rukia answered truthfully.

Ichigo paused, the look in his face reflecting that he was deep in thought. Rukia took a step back to give him a moment to think. After a second or two he shook his head and glanced at Rukia before heading off in the opposite direction of their school towards home. Rukia moved quickly to fall in step with him, walking at his side as they headed back for home.

"So what does it mean?" Rukia asked.

"Zangetsu is back… and that means my powers are returning."


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own Bleach, but I really don't want to... Shouts go out to **Beccababy** my returning Beta reader. She is made of awesome. She told me somethings about the story that honestly I was like why did I write it like that but then I either fixed them or plan on explaining them later. So please bare with me if you have questions but feel free to post them on reviews.

-Kadington

* * *

To the outside world he looked asleep, but maybe a better explanation would be that he was in deep meditation. He sat cross legged as his head was drooping and resting against his chest. His hands where sitting in his lap and his fingers would twitch every now and then as his eyes rolled around in his head just under his eye lids. Besides the movements of his eye and the occasional twitch, his body was completely still and seemed relaxed. It was a complete ruse however, because just beyond the surface and into the depths of his inner world a battle was raging that could very well be one of life or death. At least it appeared to be that serious.

The sharp clang of swords rang in the air like a thunderbolt that scorched the earth. Repeated strikes left the world reeling in shockwaves of sheer power. There was no hesitation in either opponent's blade for this fight was far more serious than a simple spar. Each movement and each breath was scrutinized by the other combatant looking for that one mistake that would insure victory. As serious as this battle was, neither opponent wanted it any other way for it had been some time since sword and wielder had battled to sharpen each other.

To Ichigo this was more than a fierce battle with Zangetsu, this was his release from all the emotions and stress that had been slowly collecting in his soul. They mounted like flood water against a dike, if he let any more abuse come to his emotional dike, it just might break allowing all that flood water to hit him and drown him in insufferable sorrow. He never wanted to be as emotionally ruined as he had been after he lost both Rukia and his baby girl, but hanging around Rukia's incarnate had torn open old wounds that he thought had healed a long time ago. She was Rukia's incarnate as much as he wanted to convince himself otherwise. His refusal to accept this fact was one of the reasons so many wounds had been painfully torn open in the first place. It was only after he saw the beautifully white Sode No Shirayuki in her hand the day before did it become impossible to refute this fact.

Ichigo spun around with the fluid grace of a cat as his sword met the steel of his Zanpakuto's sword. The slice Zangetsu had assaulted him with surely could have split him from shoulder to thigh if he hadn't blocked it. The swords moaned as steel grinded against steel before Ichigo was able to put an arm's length of distance between him and his sword. The adrenaline that was coursing wildly through his body was a high better than any drug on earth or in soul society could ever hope to give him. He relished the intense feeling as he shifted stances in the blink of an eye, only to send an assault of powerful thrust in Zangetsu's direction. The assault had its intending effect as it pushed Zangetsu to take to the defensive.

Zangetsu defended skillfully before, with a flick of his wrist, hitting Ichigo's sword aside and countering with a diagonal slash. Ichigo was taken off guard by this, but his battle instincts saved him from losing an arm. Ichigo jumped back as the sting from the cut on his arm hit him. His clothing became stained in crimson, but Ichigo couldn't bring himself to care. The cut was nothing more than a light flesh wound compared to half the scrapes he had gotten into during his battle stained history. Ichigo registered in his mind that he had been hit, but other than that he was plotting his next set of moves. Zangetsu knew everything that Ichigo knew in the art of swordsmanship, so the fact that Zangetsu had actually scored a hit on him meant Ichigo still wasn't up to full fighting from.

"You're thinking too much Ichigo," The spirit called to its master.

"Am I not allowed to think?" Ichigo was quick to retort before he and Zangetsu's locked swords again.

Zangetsu fainted right before he ducked low and came up as his sword tasted blood a second time in the past few minutes. "The purpose of this fight is to make you not think, only react." Zangetsu calmly replied.

Ichigo didn't have anything to respond to that with so he only continued the fight arching his sword in a reverse star shaped pattern. Across, down left, up, down right, up again… Each strike held Ichigo's full weight as he stepped forward slightly through each swing. Zangetsu skillfully either dodged or blocked, but was forced back a full step. Thus began the second round of the battle, with each combatant putting everything they had forward to challenge the other. As the sound of their fight rang in the silence of Ichigo's inner world, the only spectator appeared to be Zangetsu's favorite street dog that lurked in one of the back alley ways of the inner dimension.

Ichigo's inner dimension had changed through the years and was no longer the sideway skyscraper that he had when he was young. Now Ichigo and Zangetsu dueled at the base of the very same skyscraper that once served as a platform. Ichigo inner world had basically righted itself and now instead of sides of skyscrapers, Ichigo now had paved roads, alley ways and even other buildings. The reason for the 90 degree flip was the fact Ichigo had long ago again tamed his nearly endless spiritual pressure and finally mastered control over every aspect of his powers. This lack of chaos allowed Ichigo's inner world to stabilize and thus turn the proper direction. The city itself was as interesting as any typical city block but after two blocks the world looped in on itself making it possible to run in one direction and appear from the other a short time later. Not that anyone who inhabited the world cared. There were trees and plants that lined the streets, but the one thing Zangetsu seemed to enjoy were the pigeons and various other bird as well as a pack of dogs that ruled the streets.

Above both spirits, the sky was cast into an angry kind of grey green that would normally signal that a terrible storm was on the way. Not that either combatant really paid much attention to the weather, it was more a symbolic reflection of the emotional state of Ichigo's soul then an actual weather pattern. No doubt the storm that threatened the skies of this city would come one day soon, but for now, as the two clashed swords a bit of a release was found.

Little did either combatant figure out right away that someone else had joined them in the city. It wasn't until Ichigo forced Zangetsu back a good 10 feet before the stoic sword spirit noticed who was watching them. Ichigo who was still focused on the fight lurched forward only to stop half way as he noticed Zangetsu drop his guard and lower his weapon. Ichigo forced his blade to halt halfway through his strike, stopping it just an inch before it came down on his spirit. Raising a brow, Ichigo let his arm limply fall to his side.

"What happened Old Man, pull a muscle?" Ichigo chastised as he wondered what had caused his sword spirit to suddenly stop fighting.

Even through his thick glasses, Ichigo knew when Zangetsu was looking at him and Ichigo was not getting that feeling. "No," Zangetsu replied before he dismissed the sword in his hand causing it to disappear into thin air. "Welcome, my beautiful maiden of snow." A warm smile work its way to Zangetsu's lips.

Ichigo knew who was with them just by Zangetsu's comment, for there was no one else that Zangetsu called by that name, nor was there any one else that Zangetsu used that tone or even smiled for other then Sode No Shirayuki. If Zanpakutos were really expressions of someone's soul then it only made sense that if Ichigo loved Rukia with all his soul, then Zangetsu would love Sode No Shirayuki with all of his. The only difference was; Sode No Shirayuki remembered Zangetsu… Rukia didn't remember him.

Turning around, Ichigo wasn't surprised at all to see Sode No Shirayuki standing there against the back drop of one of the small cafe's that lined the city streets. To others, her appearance might seem out of place within the city, but to Ichigo it seemed perfectly natural. This wasn't the first time Sode No Shirayuki had come to his soul and it probably wouldn't be the last time either, or at least he hoped not, for Zangetsu's sake. Normally when two spirits met, they can only meet outside of their inner worlds, but something about Rukia transferring her powers to him had opened this up for the two spirits. Ever since that fateful night too many years ago a bridge between the two souls had formed and it was easy for either spirit to go into the other's inner world.

"Hello, Shirayuki-san." Ichigo said with a slight bow to show his respect to the spirit.

In soul society, for a shinigami to see the manifestation of another zanpakuto was a very intimate thing and rarely did even very close shinigami see the other's zanpakuto manifestation. Even touching someone else's zanpakuto was a taboo, but all those things didn't apply to Ichigo or Rukia. Though one only had to be in the same room for spirits to be able to communicate with each other. Conversations between spirits weren't as common as one might think, but it does happen. Zangetsu knew the most of the sword spirits of the shinigami Ichigo regularly spar or was around. He even once said he was good friends with Zabimaru and Senbonzakura. Though Zangetsu's relationship with Sode No Shirayuki was a million times different then his relationship with other spirits; but so was Ichigo's relationship with the snowy maiden.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two." Sode No Shirayuki spoke in a calm voice.

"You have always been welcome in this place Sode No Shirayuki, you have disrupted nothing." Zangetsu was quick to respond as he waved his hand to dismiss any other notions she could have about coming there.

Ichigo flicked his own weapon away in a similar matter Zangetsu; it quickly dissolved into thin air. "Is there something we could help you with Shirayuki-san? Or are you just here to see Zangetsu?"

Sode no Shirayuki looked towards Ichigo with a calm gaze. "I can selfishly admit that I did come to see Zangetsu, but I also wanted to talk to you as well. Do you mind if we take this to the park?"

The park was just another part of the cityscape. If Ichigo considered the skyscraper as the starting point for his inner world then the park was the end before it looped around in a never ending cycle. The park was both spirits' favorite place in his world. They were normally found there if Ichigo went looking for them. Zangetsu had told him once that he could find peace in the park that couldn't be found anywhere else in the inner world.

"Sure," Ichigo gave a causal shrug of his shoulders before he turned and headed towards the park.

Sode No Shirayuki offered the former substitute shinigami a thankful smile before she stepped up to Zangetsu and begun to follow after the orange haired man. The walk wasn't a far one. The area wasn't much bigger than a common children's park and had a set of playground equipment at one end a small open field with trees at the other end. Knowing the spirits, Ichigo headed for the largest tree in the small field.

As soon as he reached this location, Ichigo eased himself down into the grass and waited for the two spirits to get settled respectfully. Zangetsu helped Sode No Shirayuki down to sit at the base of the large tree before taking a spot next to her. As soon as he was comfortable he quickly reached over and took Sode No Shirayuki's hand into his own. The display of affection wasn't anything Ichigo wasn't use to and honestly it never really bothered him when he watched the two of them. After all Zangetsu was a part of him just as Rukia was a part of Sode No Shirayuki so it could be said that their love was a reflection of his love for Rukia and vice versa.

After giving Zangetsu a small smile, Sode No Shirayuki's eyes turned towards Ichigo. "May I inquire as to what you are going to do once Soul Society catches up with us?"

Ichigo leaned back and onto the palms of his hands. "Same thing Rukia did. Although, if Soul Society thinks they can harm this new Rukia, they'll remember why I'm the hero of the Winter War. I refuse to let anything happen to either of you."

Sode No Shirayuki nodded as if expecting this answer. "I suppose that's the only thing you two can do in this situation." There was a pause as Sode No Shirayuki seemed to consider something. "You know she dreams about who she once was."

Ichigo face registered that he was surprised. "I see…" Was all the fifth division captain could say before his brain processed a proper retort. "How is it possible that she is back? I thought it didn't work that way."

Sode No Shirayuki didn't say anything for a moment as she rested her head against Zangetsu's shoulder. "Normally it doesn't." Her words were low and if it wasn't for the general silence of his inner world Ichigo might have missed what she had said.

Zangetsu put his arm around Sode No Shirayuki and held her close to him before he looked in the direction of his wielder. "You have never exactly been normal, Ichigo, and because of her interaction with you she became abnormal as well."

Ichigo brow furrowed as his face contorted into its trademark scowl. "Can we cut the bull crap Zangetsu? For once just give me a straight answer."

"Ichigo-san," Sode No Shirayuki's voice had a disarming ring to it. "Soul bonding is the reason why she is back."

"Soul bonding?" Ichigo reply rang with a mountain of confusion.

Zangetsu nodded. "It is exactly how it sounds, the bonding of two souls. It's the reason why Sode No Shirayuki can come here in the first place, for it is the bridge that binds your souls together. Both of you can feel the bond between your souls and it will always bring you together."

Ichigo let Zangetsu's words hang in the air unsure of what to fully make of them. It made sense that he and Rukia had a bond with him that was different than anyone else, but was it really so strong that even death couldn't break the connection between them? He been privileged to learn about a lot of weird stuff in his 46 years of life but the more he thought about it the more this seemed to make sense...

"You will understand Ichigo, but for now…I employ you to be there for Rukia." Sode No Shirayuki's voice seemed to hint that she understood everything, but there was something she intended to keep from Ichigo.

"I will but…" Ichigo started before suddenly he was forced out of his inner world by the sound of pounding.

* * *

_Rukia sat behind a large desk, far bigger then her meager stature was and it seemed to make her appear smaller then she really was. This fact didn't bother her, if Toushiro could get use to it, then so could she. The scent of spring hovered in the air and through the open window to her left. The sun shown warm in her office heating it up and warming whatever the rays of light touched. It was one of those perfect spring days that just called to a person to come outside. Putting her pen down, she steps from her desk to stand in the warm beams of light. Her skin was instantly warmed were the sun kissed it and took away some of the aching feeling that she had been feeling lately. She blamed overworking for that tired feeling she had been having for the past few months, but the longer it persisted she had to wonder if it was something else. _

_"Captain?"_

_A voice from the door caused Rukia to snap out of the sun induced revelry she was having. Turning to the door of her office, the short captain let a gentle smile appear on her lips at the sight of her lieutenant Kiyone. Rukia had only been promoted to the rank of captain a few years before to take Ukitake's place as captain of the thirteenth division after the older man's health started to deteriorate even more rapidly. Ukitake just wasn't the same after the Winter War… Rukia was happy to take his place and prove herself to her brother and her friends. She had started to master her bankai at the very end of the winter war and now was able to use it with the mastery required of a captain in the Gotei 13. _

_"Yes Kiyone?" Rukia asked her lieutenant._

_Kiyone seemed to stand more at attention once she was addressed by her captain. "Ahh, I come to report that…"_

_Kiyone wasn't allowed to continue as someone else stepped into Rukia's office and silenced Kiyone. "Don't worry Lieutenant, I need no introduction here" Came the cocky voice of the Captain of the fifth division and Rukia's husband._

_"Ichigo…" There was warmth in the other captain's tone mixed slightly with annoyance. Rukia's eyes didn't linger long upon the orange haired captain, turning instead to her vice-captain. "Kiyone, why don't you get out of the office and take the rest of the day off."_

_Kiyone's smile rose upon her lips as she stood at attention. "Hai, Captain!" With that said the vice captain of the thirteenth division disappeared from Rukia's sight. _

_Violet lingered upon chocolate for a minute as the two captains' eyes met for a moment or two. Rukia couldn't read what Ichigo wanted exactly, but it was no stretch of the imagination to think it no doubt involved her if he was here. Turning around, Rukia knew she had no time to play one of Ichigo's games. She had paperwork to get done so that she could enjoy this wonderful weather. Returning to her desk, she moved to pick up her pen. Ichigo invited himself further into her office and sat down in one of the chairs that sat on the other end of her desk. _

_"Something I can help you with Captain Kurosaki?" Rukia decided to ask as she started the paperwork on her desk. _

_Ichigo grinned at her in return. "Why yes you can Captain Kuchiki__. You mind if I talk to my wife for a minute?"_

_Rukia gave her fellow captain a slight glance before returning to her paperwork. "Your wife has a lot of work to do."_

_Ichigo glanced towards the office door. "Ya know the way you sent your vice captain away like that, seems to point that you wanted to be alone with me." Ichigo's tone was low as his lips curled in a seductive smirk. _

_Rukia just rolled her eyes at him, as much as she'd love to entertain him, she had a duty to her squad to work just as hard as they did. Kiyone had already done more than enough in the last few days while Rukia hadn't been feeling well, picking up the slack the way she use to for Ukitake. Rukia felt bad putting her lieutenant in that position because she wasn't supposed to be sick like Ukitake, but here she was doing it none the less. That was why she had given Kiyone some time off because she more than earned it, and someone should enjoy this beautiful day if she couldn't. From the other end of her desk Ichigo got comfortable in his chair, his smirk fading. _

_"How are you feeling today?" His tone was far more serious then Rukia really wanted._

_"Fine." Rukia replied hiding how tired even now she was feeling. "The same as what I told you this morning before I left the house." _

_Ichigo sighed. "Rukia, don't make me out to be the bad guy here. I have every right to be concerned about you. What did Captain Unohana say this morning?" His concern for her evident in every word he spoke. _

_Rukia set down her pen again and folded her arms upon her large wooden desk to look at Ichigo. She knew his concern for her was justified, it was more the fact that she didn't want it to affect him the way she knew it was. He was more worried about her now then he had ever been, except for the time when she was going to be executed. It wasn't helping that she didn't appear to be getting any better. Choosing her words carefully as not to cause him any more unnecessary worry, Rukia gave her husband of five years a serious look. _

_"She didn't know what it was. Unohana ran some test but wouldn't be getting the results until later tonight." Rukia honestly told her husband. _

_Clearly these were not the words Ichigo was hoping to hear. He went silent as he leaned back in the chair. His eyes betrayed that of a man deep in thought before he slowly got up from the chair. Rukia watched him, forgetting about her abundance of paperwork for the moment. Ichigo begun to pace the length of the room, once then twice. Finally after three or four rotations of the pace, he turned towards his wife a slightly haunted look in his eyes. He had been the one that had insisted that Rukia went to talk to Unohana this morning as if he had suddenly developed some sort of fear that something was seriously wrong with her. _

_"Okay…" Ichigo voice was a bit shaky, a million miles from the cocky and slightly loud one he normally had. _

_"Ichigo… Look I'm fine. Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill." Rukia tried to reassure her husband. _

_Ichigo's eyes flashed to lock with her own. "Byakuya hasn't talked to you, has he?" _

_Rukia gave her fellow captain a strange look, but never broke eye contract. "No… Why?" _

_Ichigo suddenly tore his gaze from her and resumed to pace along the length of Rukia's office. The wife not knowing what to make of her husband's strange behavior watched him. The thirteenth division captain really didn't know what was pulsing though Ichigo's mind, but whatever it was it left him fairly distraught. Slowly getting up from her desk, Rukia made a decision to try and comfort her husband. She was about to step in front of him but he stopped a second before her. The thundering sound of footsteps rapidly approaching Rukia's office stopped both captains in their tracks. Such hurried messengers normally carried urgent news and no doubt both captains in the room would need to start acting like captains. _

_The door to Rukia office slid open without the normal and respectful entering knock. Standing there in the door way panting was none other than Hanataro. He looked bedraggled, no doubt a bit tired from the dozen or so flash steps needed to cross from fifthdivision to thirteenth division. His fifth division lieutenant's badge that normally sat high on his shoulder now was hanging from his elbow as he looked between the two captains. The nervousness about his situation could be felt across the room to the position where Rukia stood. Gulping loudly, his eyes flickered back and forth from the two captains before he suddenly collected himself and stood at attention._

_"Captains, I have been sent to tell you both to go see Captain Unohana in 4th division urgently." Hanataro reported._

_When told to go somewhere urgently, both Rukia and Ichigo knew better then to delay. Glancing at each other as if to ask the other what was going on, both captains turned and ran out of the office. Ichigo called a thank you back to his vice captain over his shoulder just before they disappeared down the hall and out the doors. As soon as their feet touched the outside ground, both shinigami disappeared, reappearing on top of one of the many roofs around soul society before disappearing again with another shunpo. A trip that normally took a half an hour walking was reduced to 5 minutes as both Ichigo and Rukia appeared at the hospital doors that lead to Unohana's normal office. _

_Ichigo was the first one in, following a few steps behind him was Rukia, both of their captain's robes fluttering in their wake because of their heightened paces. The fourth division members stopped whatever they were doing to look at the two Captains that appeared with in their hospital, no doubt surprised to see them there more than anything else. It was rare for a captain to be in the fourth division after the Winter War ended, and to see two of them there was an even stranger oddity. Ichigo moved through the halls of the hospital knowing exactly where he was going. He knew the layout of the hospital well, as he had been there several different times for several different reasons over the years. Rukia continued to follow a step or two behind him, ignoring the stares of the fourth division staff. _

_Finally Ichigo reached his destination, not bothering with the customary knock before he just walked inside. Rukia followed behind him, stepping up to his side as they appeared in the office. Unohana looked up at them, her hand poised as if she was frozen in mid calligraphy stroke. Her surprise expression slowly melted into an emotionless one as the healer's lips pressed into a thin line. Slowly she lowered her pen and stood from behind her desk and motioned for the captain's to take a seat on the patient couch on the far side of the room. Ichigo and Rukia both obliged the healer's silent request sitting down upon the overstuffed couch. Unohana plucked a file off her desk and moved across the room to shut the door before taking the chair that sat opposite of the couch. Both husband and wife watched her anxiously wondering what this could all be about. _

_Unohana took a deep breath and looked at the two with a sad gaze before looking at Rukia. "I honestly didn't expect either of you for at least a half an hour, but it would seem you were told to hurry…" Unohana started before her face became very sullen. "I didn't ask either of you here as captains, I asked you here as husband and wife…" _

_Suddenly a feeling of dread washed over Rukia. Her heart instantly knew she was about to get bad news, and not just any bad news. Bad news about her health… For such a long time Rukia had been trying to convince herself that what was happening to her was nothing out of the ordinary. She was just getting tired and wore out easily. The aches were just a symptom of her tiredness, something to overlook and not serious. But now it would seem that Ichigo's worry was justified. Tensing slightly, Rukia tried to brace for the emotional wave that would come with the news Unohana was about to give her. Her resolve was strengthened as she felt Ichigo take her hand into his. _

_Unohana opened the chart. "Rukia, when you came in this morning I had a suspicion of what was ailing you almost immediately. I didn't want to share my suspicion until I knew exactly what was wrong with you. If you recall I took some of you blood and other fluids this morning and from that I was able to come up with two diagnoses for your condition… One surprised me, the other I confirmed my suspicion." Unohana sighed as if trying to collect herself. "I could say I have good news for you but in light of these two complicating factors you're going to have to make a very hard decision." _

_Again Unohana paused as if she was waiting for some sort of confirmation that she should continue. Rukia didn't like anything that she was saying, but as Ichigo squeezed her hand, the captain of the thirteenth squad nodded to her fellow captain. She'd had no where to hide, whatever Unohana knew was her fate now. Unohana remained silent for a moment longer as if trying to find the proper way to explain everything to the couple before her gaze turned very serious and doctor like. _

_"Rukia, you have Killeacks disease…" Unohana simply said._

_Rukia let out the breath she had been holding as she took in what Unohana had said. There was no need for anyone to explain what Killeacks' disease was because she already knew. It was the same disease that had ended her sister's life and even if she had never known her sister the stories of how she died hadn't been denied to her. Killeacks' was the soul version of the living world's lupus disease. It was an autoimmune virus in which a soul's Reiryoku starts to attack a soul's body like an enemy. It had a very slow progression until the damage inflicted starts affecting the body's ability to function. It was a very fatal disease. She had all the early tell tale markers for the disease now that Rukia thought about it. What a fool she was for not realizing the whole thing sooner and by the look in Ichigo's eyes this was what he had been so worried about. _

_"We have caught it early, far earlier then when we caught it in your sister. We can do much to suppress it and give you a semblance of a normal life for now." Unohana started._

_The doctor's words were cut off by Ichigo. "Whatever it is we'll do it!" His words were strong for it seemed the very thought of losing her terrified him._

_Unohana looked at Ichigo with a sorrowful look. "It's not that easy I'm afraid, there is something you must take into consideration…. Rukia you are with child…" _

_Rukia felt her heart stop and an icy cold feeling far different from the one she got wielding Sode No Shirayuki fill her blood stream. With child? It was rare in soul society for any woman to become pregnant. It was always possible, but it happened so rarely it was considered a miracle. There were couples who would spend hundreds of years trying and have nothing to show for it. It was an old wives' tale that the reason for the low birthrate was because souls were meant to be born in the land of the living so the soul king made the task difficult for those who attempted to do it in Soul Society. Rukia had never imagined herself to ever become a mother, still it would appear she had been blessed or maybe it was cursed. Feeling her throat go dry she looked at Unohana desperately, her hand upon her stomach._

_"What are my options…?" The words came out horse._

_Unohana's face remained sorrowful. "You could abort the child and start the treatment for Killeacks. You have I'd say a 75 percent chance of responding well to the medication and living another 200 years. Or you could keep the child and try to carry it to a survivable age, but the risks to your body are great and your chance of survival and the child's survival aren't very high. If you get treatment for Killeacks you'll never be able to have children again…"_

_In an instant Rukia was on her feet, the pain was too much. Without a word she left, unable to weather the emotional storm that shook her body. She had to go. She had to clear her mind. She had to just think…_

_

* * *

_

In an instant Rukia shot up in bed, her lungs letting forth several sobs as tears stained her face. That dream had felt so real, the pain she felt now was so real. She felt like her heart itself was being torn into pieces right in front of her as she had to make the most difficult choice in her life. The life of her children or her own… No one should have to feel the pain that coursed through her body now. It was far worse than anything she had ever felt in her life. Clutching her chest, the sobs continued to leave her mouth unbridle by her mind trying to scream at her that the dream was just that a dream. No this dream had been too real to be just a dream and her very soul was shaken by it.

Kicking off her blankets, her skin hit the cool night air of her bedroom causing goose bumps to rise on her flesh. Gulping in air to overcome the sobs that echoed from her chest she tried to calm herself. The small teen's whole body shook with both cold sweats and her own almost silent sobs. She found herself unable to overcome the pure pain that echoed out from her very soul. She needed comfort. No her body demanded to be comforted. Rukia's mind ran a million miles an hour trying to figure out where she could go to get this comfort her body was so desperate to seek. Suddenly the answer became clear as if she knew it all along.

Rationale was lost on the emotionally distraught teen as her feet touched the floor of her bedroom. As fast as she could move, she crossed the room exiting through her door and down the stairs. Threw the kitchen and out the back door, Rukia feet hit the dew cover grass of her backyard. She barely recognized the feeling of the wet grass underfoot before she stepped up to the RV parked in the back of the house. None of the lights in it where on but that didn't deter Rukia as her fist pounded on the door with a primal desperation one might have if being hunted and needing safety.

Rukia didn't know how long she stood there pounding but in her heart it felt like an eternity, but as suddenly as she had appeared the door opened. Ichigo sat there in the threshold a confused look playing across his face, wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants that had been Rukia's brother's at one point. Rukia didn't care about any of this though as she threw her arms around the orange haired man and just started to sob into his bare chest. She didn't feel Ichigo tense under her touch or even ask her what was wrong. The only thing that mattered to her was that she had him at that moment and strangely that was comforting to the emotional hurricane that raged in her small body.


	10. Chapter 10

Alright here is the next chapter for everyone to enjoy.. I was iffy about it but my editor Beccababy told me it was awesome so I suppose it's good enough for you readers if she likes it. This chapter marks the start of things changing for everyone. Don't own Bleach and have no interest two. Because of the new chapters of Bleach this story is now a bit AU in the fact it probably won't match completely up with the story, but I figure I might change it to fit after I'm done completely with the story or just leave it, haven't decided on it yet.

* * *

Ichigo honestly didn't know what was going on. One minute he was in deep meditation with Zangetsu, the next he was standing at the door to the RV he was staying in and being grappled by a clearly emotionally distraught Rukia. At first he didn't know what to do, but slowly his natural reaction to protect the woman in his arms overruled his confusion and he slowly wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't deny how good it felt to have her in his arms like this even under the circumstances.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry Ichigo…" Came the harsh mumbles from Ichigo's chest.

Ichigo just held the girl in his arms tighter in response as his attention turned towards the back door of the house as Uryu stepped out followed by his wife. There was no mistaking the worried look in both parent's eyes as they crossed the wet grass towards their daughter. They must have been awoken by Rukia when she came to him. Ishida was the first to arrive at his daughter's side, but made no attempt to remove the sobbing girl from Ichigo's arms.

"What's going on?" Ishida tone didn't hold its normal snarky ring, just concern for his daughter.

"No clue… She just suddenly appeared here," Ichigo honestly replied.

Ishida looked at his wife, keeping his eyes on her as she came up next to Ichigo and placed her hand on Rukia's shoulders. Ichigo slowly let Rukia go so her mom could take her. Orihime moved to remove her daughter from Ichigo, but the teen quickly tensed and tightened her grip around the shinigami, unwilling to let go. A few more incoherent sobs could be heard coming from the teen but none of the three adults understood what had been said.

"Rukia-chan, what's wrong?" Orihime's voice was reassuring the way only a mother's voice could be.

There came no reply just more strangled sobs as Rukia shook her head and buried her face more into Ichigo's chest. Orihime took a step back, her eyes reflecting more worry for her daughter. Ichigo wished he had even a vague idea what was wrong with the girl in his arms, but she wasn't giving away any clue what could have worked her into such a distressed state. As both parents exchanged worried look, Uryu's gaze fixed upon his shinigami friend.

"Kurosaki, can you pick her up and bring her into the house? We'll let her calm down before we ask what happened." Uryu tone seemed to reflect how much of an experienced parent he was.

Ichigo understood and nodded his concern as he picked up Rukia into his arms. The teen just continued to sob, clinging to him like a life preserver in a storm. Stepping down from his RV, Orihime moved to shut the door behind him as Uryu started to head for the house. Ichigo followed behind his Quincy friend with Orihime following a few steps behind the former substitute shinigami. Uryu opened the back door allowing Ichigo through and kept it open long enough for his wife to also come inside. Orihime took the lead as soon as they were in the house motioning Ichigo to follow her into the living room. Once in the living room Orihime sat down on the couch, patting the spot next to her as if to encourage Ichigo to sit next to her. Ichigo did just that, watching as Ishida took a seat across from him in a large arm chair.

For a while no one said anything, the only sound that echoed in the room was Rukia's sobs. Ichigo closed his arms around the small girl sobbing in his arms, hoping to offer as much comfort as he possibly could to her. He could feel her whole body shake with each and every sob and it only caused him to hold her closer to him. The effect had its intended result, because Rukia seemed to relax in Ichigo's strong reassuring grip. Slowly the bone shaking sobs subsided into small hiccups and then it became nothing but a few quick breaths every so often.

"Rukia-chan… Are you okay sweetie?" Orihime asked in a soft voice.

The teenager didn't respond only snuggling as much as she could into Ichigo's chest as a few choked sobs renewed from her chest. Ichigo glanced up at Orihime and even in the darkness of the living room he could see how much the mother was worried about her daughter. Ichigo wished he could do something to help both parents connect with their daughter, but he felt more like the third wheel here than anything else. Why had she come to him out of all the people in the house? Sure he felt a connection with her as deep as the one that he had felt with his wife. The thing was there couldn't be a way for her to feel the same connection. She was a different person then she had once been. But here she was in his arms refusing to leave the safety he represented.

"Rukia, what's wrong?" Ichigo decided to try and ask.

"….Your wife… She was a captain wasn't she? Of the thirteenth squad…" Rukia suddenly asked.

Ichigo tensed almost instantly at her question. So far he hadn't told this Rukia that many details about his Rukia. It wasn't like he kept this information from her, she just didn't ask. After all she must have known talking about his wife was painful to him and to stop from causing him any unnecessary pain she just avoided the topic. He appreciated the gesture more then he'd admit. There had to be somewhere else she was getting this information. Like her parents or even Urahara, granted because she was Rukia incarnate there was also the possibility that she could have just been given the information. In fact, Ichigo was getting a sneaking suspicion that this could be the case.

"Yes she was. How do you know that?" Ichigo affirmed.

"… I just do… And now I understand why you always have such sad eyes…" Rukia whispered.

Slowly the young woman got up pulling away from Ichigo as she got onto her feet. Ichigo just let her go; his eyes remained fixed upon her as he instantly missed the feeling of holding her. Rukia's eyes lingered on Ichigo's face a moment before she looked at her parents. Reaching up she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and took in an audible breath.

"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad,… I just had a bad dream… You can go back to bed now, because I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." Rukia voice was low clearly horse from the distressed state she had been in not too long ago.

"Are you sure Rukia-chan?" Orihime got to her feet her arms wrapping around her daughter securely.

Rukia relaxed in her mother's arms. "Yeah, I'm fine really. I'm sorry for waking you up, Mom."

Ishida stood up from his chair and took both his daughter and wife into his arms. "Rukia it's alright…What was your dream about?"

Rukia didn't respond right away and a few seconds of silence rang in the family room before she finally answered. "I don't remember…"

Ichigo didn't say anything, but at that moment he knew Rukia was lying. She remembered exactly what had caused her to become that emotionally distressed. Getting to his feet, Ichigo figured it was time for him to make his exit. He wasn't needed here any longer, and he wasn't part of this family. He had done his part offering comfort to the teenager when she needed it, but right now Rukia needed her parents, not him. Moving quietly away from the family unit, he moved into the kitchen and towards the back door. He was able to make it half way back to the RV and across the dew covered lawn before he heard the back door open behind him. He glanced back, and was not entirely surprised to see Rukia standing there at the back door. Ichigo choose to ignore her, stepping up to the RV, but she was quickly crossing the lawn to him.

"Go to bed Rukia." Ichigo sighed as he opened the door to the RV and stepped inside.

Stepping into the RV, he flicked on the lights knowing full well he wouldn't get any more sleep tonight. He had a book he had picked up from the library the other day and hopefully it would keep him amused long enough for the sun to come up. The door to the RV opened and closed behind him meaning Rukia had followed him. Ignoring the teenager's arrival, Ichigo moved towards the back of the RV and into the bedroom at the rear.

"I have a question, and you said you'd answer my questions." Rukia voice caused Ichigo to stop.

A sigh of defeat left Ichigo's lips before he turned around and sat down on his bed. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

Rukia stared at him a moment as if she hadn't expected him to have just been so willing to answer. Ichigo returned her gaze with a slightly arched brow quietly waiting to hear what her question was, and mentally preparing his heart to talk about a painful subject. Rukia eyes avoided looking at him before she stepped up close to him, so close with him sitting down that she shadowed over him. Ichigo watched her movements carefully, suddenly feeling nervous having her that close. He could control himself, but she was close enough once again that he could feel the heat that radiated off her body. The next few seconds left Ichigo in a strange daze, as suddenly Rukia leaned in and pressed her lips against his.

All those feeling long suppressed in Ichigo's heart bubbled to the surface with vengeance. He found himself returning Rukia's kiss with passion he hadn't felt in years. A familiar electric feeling tingled at his lips as he deepened the kiss unable to hold back the overwhelming emotions that were growing within him. He really did love this girl. His soul recognized the latent connection he had with her. Sure this Rukia didn't remember who he was, but he recognized her. The kiss lingered for only the span of a few heart beats, but Ichigo's soul felt devoid of sorrow in those fleeting moments.

Rukia was the one that pulled away from the kiss taking a step back as she did so. Her eyes lingered upon the orange haired man before her as her lips pressed into a thin line. To Ichigo he knew that expression to be the one his Rukia normally took when she was thinking about something. She really wasn't looking at him: she was just staring at something as her mind processed what she was thinking. Ichigo didn't know if Rukia felt the same things he did, but some part of him wished she did. If she did then maybe Ichigo wouldn't have to continue on alone. Then again, there were things that would no doubt keep them apart.

"I can hear you thinking…" Ichigo offhandedly commented as he stood up. "So did you get your answer?"

Rukia looked up at him as he almost stood over her. Not more than 6 inches separated their bodies as he stood up. "Yes I did…" Rukia spoke with confidence as she looked up at him so that their eyes met. "I have to go."

Ichigo watched as the teenager turned and walked way. He remained rooted in his spot only able to watch her go, his lips still tingling from the contact. It took everything within him not to chase after her and reclaim her lips for himself. She quickly disappeared from his sight and the sound of the RV door opening and shutting echoed in the silent air around him. Ichigo let out a slow breath before letting himself fall back onto the bed. His mind replayed over the last few minutes, almost unconvinced that they had happened.

_'Robbing the cradle aren't we, King?'_

Now that was a voice he hadn't heard in few weeks. Ichigo wasn't surprised by its sudden appearance, for if Zangetsu was back, that cocky voice couldn't be far away. As much as the former substitute shinigami had shunned the voice of his hollow and suppressed its power for his own use, he became aware that it was slowly seeping its way back into power. There had been many power struggles with his inner hollow until he stopped butting heads with it and started to partner with it. The partnership had benefits, but it had some draw backs too. The hollow seemed to like to narrate Ichigo's life with an almost crude sense of humor at times from the back of his head.

**_'I have no plans to have relationship with her.'_**

Ichigo could see in his mind's eye the smirk that rose up on the hollow's face. Ichigo had just tried to lie to himself and his hollow was always quick to point out when it was being lied to. For some reason, the hollow seemed to take pleasure in pointing out the times Ichigo lied to himself, something that Ichigo had never realized how often he did it before the hollow started to point things out.

_'No plans? You already have a relationship with her!'_

**_'You know what I mean.'_**

_'You know what I mean! She looks like the Queen, She acts like the Queen, She **is** the Queen. Geez, just because she doesn't fully remember doesn't mean that her soul doesn't remember.'_

**_'Don't be so dramatic.' _**

_'And you say I'm insane.'_ A scathing chuckle echoed in the back of Ichigo's head._ 'Well King, you are allowed to believe what you want to believe. But when she comes back for more than a just a kiss, make sure you give her what she wants.'_

With that the voice faded into whatever secret corner the hollow hid when he wasn't actively ridiculing Ichigo's existence. Letting himself linger in the silence of both his mind and the RV, Ichigo sat there for a moment. He wasn't tired any more, in fact he felt restless. There was a voice not so deranged as his hollow's in the back of his head reminded him that he did have to get up tomorrow morning. Turning off the lights, Ichigo rolled over and tired to get some sleep.

* * *

2 nights later...

A gateway between the land of the dead and the living world suddenly appeared in the skies over Karakura town. It split open as two hell butterflies fluttered. Both butterflies were quickly followed by two shinigami, each with their faces covered by cloth wrapping to conceal their identity as well as a cloak to further hide who they were. They stepped free from the gate, taking a slight survey of the area below them. They seemed to find the area satisfactory before, in burst of flash step, they appeared on the ground just a few feet below the gate. Instantly more butterflies fluttered from the open gate, too many butterflies to count, each followed by a shinigami.

The small park that the gate had appeared over was suddenly filled by a large platoon of shinigami. They quickly filed into 5 rows of about 10 shinigami per row and stood at attention awaiting further orders like any well organized military operation. The two that had arrived first stood quietly at the heads of the rows. They appeared to be in charge because they only waited until the rows were formed and everyone found their spots before they moved.

"Everyone has their orders. We are here to detain Captain Kurosaki Ichigo. The orders stand that if he is located to hold position until back up arrives. He is not an opponent to take lightly so do not engage him until back up arrives. Are we clear?" The taller of the cloaked figures commanded.

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The entire platoon echoed at once.

"Go!" was the only signal that was needed before the entire company scattered like a hoard of roaches exposed to light.

No longer than a minute after the platoon disappeared, two more butterflies appeared from the gate. A young woman and a large black wolf-like dog appeared from the gate. After they where through the gate closed as the woman and the dog stepped up to the two shinigami. The woman seemed to be a shinigami since she wore the uniform of one, but she had no visible zanpakuto sheathed at her side. The woman wore a bright smile as if she was enjoying every second she was there. The dog at her side wore a thick collar with a strange charm hanging off of it where an identification tag would be. There was an intelligence that sparkled in his eyes that seemed to hint he was more than an average dog.

"Is he here?" The shorter figure suddenly asked.

The dog put his noise to the air taking a few good sniffs. "Oh yeah that baka is here…" The dog kept sniffing the air and put his ears down flat against his skull. "No way…"

"Something wrong?" the shorter figure questioned.

The dog avoided being looked at before it turned and started to walk off. "It's nothing, just my imagination. I'll find him."

"Do that," The shorter figure commanded before his attention turned towards the woman. "Go with him and make sure you find him first."

The woman stood quickly stood as ramrod straight as she possibly could; raising her hand in a quick salute. "Hai Boss!" Her tone was as cheery as that almost obnoxious grin that never left her face. "You cans trusts me!" With that the woman turned and darted after the dog with an almost playful spring in her step that one would expect a child to have.

The figures watched as both the dog and the woman ran off and disappeared in almost the blink of the eye. There was a moment of silence before the cloaked figures disappeared as well.


	11. Chapter 11

Here is the next chapter. It would of come sooner but I had a major writer's block that lasted for like 3 weeks. It was only last night that I finally settled on the personality of the bad guys that will appear in later chapters. Yes there will be bad guys which means there will be action in later chapters. A shout out goes to my faithful and awesome beta reader **Beccababy**. I appreciate what you did for me this chapter knowing how badly edited this chapter was. I changed so much in this chapter that when I finally sent it in that it was a mess of mistakes.

* * *

Ichigo knew when he was being avoided. For the past two days, he had barely seen Rukia more than 10 seconds at any given occasion. It was as if Rukia could barely stand to be in the same room as him, darting out of the room like spooked rabbit any time Ichigo came any closer than five feet from her. This was something that Ichigo had almost expected to happen; something about their relationship had changed that night he woke up with her pounding on his door. He never found out what truly happened that night, but then he hadn't been able to ask her much.

Lately, the hollows had all been slain by Airi or Ishida before Ichigo had even a chance to summon Rukia. There had only been two so Ichigo wasn't sure if this was a mere chance or if the Quincy family was doing this purposely. No matter what the reason, Ichigo was going to feel uncomfortable if he lived with the Ishida any longer. He didn't want to put Rukia in an uncomfortable situation any more. After staying up last night contemplating his options, Ichigo realized he had none. He came to the conclusion that it was time for him to leave. His powers where returning and there was only one last thing he wanted to do in the world of living before accepting whatever judgment Soul Society would give to him.

Moving around the small RV, Ichigo made sure everything was in the order it had been when he first came to live in the RV. He was determined to leave the place neat and clean, after all he was living off his friend's generosity. Ichigo had few actual possessions since most of them were borrowed from Urahara for his stay here. The only thing he could claim as his own that he'd bring back with him to soul society was a small note book that he had been using to record his world of the living adventures. He knew he would have to make a report for his almost two month absence and the journal made sure that nothing was left out.

Gathering everything into his pockets and a small school bag he had been given by Orihime, Ichigo gave one more glance around R.V. Everything was in order, so he left and headed towards the house across the yard. Shifting the school bag to rest on the small of his back, he stepped into the house. It was a weekday and Orihime was busy in the kitchen cleaning after having sent her daughters off to school moments ago. Orihime flashed Ichigo a quick smile from the stove top before quickly realizing that he wasn't in his school clothing.

"Not going to school today, Kurosaki-kun?" She asked, the warm smell of pancakes still lingering in the air.

Ichigo took a step forward and shook his head. "No, I'm not, Inoue. I made sure yesterday that the school thought that Kurosaki Ichigo transferred out this morning. It's time for me to go.."

Orihime's smile faded as she watched Ichigo take out the keys to the R.V. and set them on the counter. "I don't suppose anything I say will convince you to stay?"

Ichigo looked at her with the sad eyes that she only saw when he lost something truly important to him. "I'm not going to put your family in harm's way. You've done more than enough."

Orihime's lips pressed into a firm line on her face. "My heart goes out to you, Ichigo, and it always has. You always feel the need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and it seems that will never change. Does Rukia know that you are leaving?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No, she doesn't." Reaching behind him, he pulled an envelope free from his bag and held it out to the mother of three. "Will you give this to her for me?"

Orihime reached forward taking the envelope from her old friend. It was a plain white envelope with Rukia's name inscribed on the front in descending kanji. Orihime set the letter down upon the kitchen table knowing that Rukia would see it once she came home, before her gaze returned to Ichigo. Stepping up to her long time friend, she fussed over his clothing like a mother might, straightening his collar and smoothing out some of the wrinkles in his clothes before she took a step back from him.

"I might never see you again…" Orihime's tone was sorrowful.

"I'm sorry, Inoue." Ichigo sighed.

"Don't be… Good bye Ichigo." Suddenly Orihime stood on her toes and gave Ichigo a friendly kiss on his cheek.

Ichigo blinked, but slowly a smile eased its way to his lips. "Good bye, Orihime." The orange haired man gave his old friend a hug in return.

The hug lingered for a few seconds before Ichigo slowly let go and turned to leave. He wasn't surprised when Orihime didn't move to stop him, but the shinigami could feel her eyes upon him even after he had crossed the threshold to the outside world. Choosing to ignore the feeling, Ichigo headed out. He knew it was only a matter of time before they came to find him. They being the shinigami he had felt this morning; the ones that had awoken him in a cold sweet as their reiatsu hit him like a wave.

He knew how soul society worked; this was just the hunter team. It would be headed by one or two shinigami of captain class to actually confront him once he was located. Ichigo was a captain level shinigami himself and soul society wouldn't risk the lives of their lower level officers on an opponent that could easily crush them. No, it would be the captain or captains that came for the confrontation. They'd give him the chance to come quietly, but if he resisted they'd have no choice but to use force. The circumstances of his capture was probably dead or alive but preferably alive. Ichigo knew he wasn't going to struggle if he could help it. The sooner he got those chasing him back to soul society, the less likely their paths will cross with Rukia's. If she could just fade from existence that would probably be best….

Ichigo couldn't say with clarity what would happen to him once he got back. The charges against him for giving his powers to a human were very serious and execution was a strong possibility for punishment. Rukia had only gotten away with a slap on the wrist back then partly because soul society didn't want Ichigo and his friends to rebel anymore and partly in light of the fact that Aizen had tampered with Rukia's entire execution process. In a way Rukia's judgment was declared a mistrial or that's what it said on the official report.

There were just a few things he needed to do before he faced whatever it was that Soul Society was going to do to him. The thing he wanted to do the most was see his family one more time, even that crazy old goat that was his father. After many years of being a single father himself, Ichigo had a new found respect for the man who at one point woke him up with physical violence. After Rukia had died, Ichigo reconnected with his dad and with some surprisingly good advice had managed to get through the first year after Rukia's death smoothly. Without those words of advice, Ichigo might have never been able to make it past that first year.

It took two buses and a train ride to bring him to the town where his father now lived. Isshin had moved out of the Karakura once the girls had gotten married to be closer to Yuzu who had moved to Nagasaki with her husband. Isshin was currently the senior partner of a clinic that Yuzu was a doctor for. The clinic was part of a larger branch of allied clinics and hospitals, but it still had that home town feel to it, or so Ichigo was told. After his last bus transfer, Ichigo found himself outside of Care First Clinic, just outside the main district of Nagasaki.

The building itself wasn't that big, but most things in the larger cities of Japan weren't. As one walked into the building, it gave the false illusion of being bigger than it really was. This was because of the high ceiling that offset the general smallness of the room and making it appear open when in actuality the reception and waiting room wasn't much bigger than his old bedroom in Karakura. There was a mother and a child waiting in the reception room, along with an elderly man. As he stepped across the threshold, the 20 something receptionist gave him a glance of acknowledgement before she returned her attention to whatever she was doing behind her computer. Stepping up to the desk, Ichigo leaned slightly against the desk.

"Can I talk to Doctor Kurosaki?" Ichigo asked wondering how far he'd get with that. "It's really important."

The receptionist looked at him like one might look at a drug addict asking for more drugs. "Which one? Also, I'm going to need a better reason then 'It's important.'"

Ichigo took a deep breath, not exactly surprised that he was meeting such opposition. "Look, my name is Kurosaki Ichigo, and my dad and my sister work here. There is an urgent family matter I need to discuss with them." Ichigo tried to keep his voice steady and devoid of any irritation.

That seemed to get the receptionist's attention enough that she picked up the phone next to her desk and dialed a number. Ichigo gripped the side of her desk hoping that he could at least be able to see both of his family members one last time. The receptionist seemed to get though to someone on the end of the line giving Ichigo a look as she talked before she sat down the phone upon the receiver.

"Through that door, go to the end of the hallway and go up the steps. At the top take a right than look for Doctor Kurosaki's office." The receptionist ordered as she pointed her pen towards the door next to her desk.

Ichigo nodded and quietly gave his thanks to the receptionist. Without any hesitation, he headed through the doors and down the hall. Like the waiting area, the halls where thin and compact showing how cramped the whole area truly were. It was like this throughout most of Japan's major cities, so Ichigo had to wonder what had inspired his dad and sister to move out of the urban setting of Karakura and into the stuffed and crowded areas of Nagasaki. After climbing up a set of stairs and making a right at the top, Ichigo followed it for a while before he caught the plaque next to one of the doors that designated Dr. Kurosaki Isshin's office. Stepping up to the door, Ichigo quietly knocked, hoping that his dad was in.

"Come in, Son" Came a voice from the other side of the door.

Ichigo quietly stepped into the office. Isshin's office was larger than Ichigo had expected it to be. It was of a moderate size, but it was still small and everything about it seemed to scream space efficient. The desk that took up about 30 percent of the room instantly separated Ichigo from his father who sat on the other end of it. Isshin had only changed slightly over the years as his beard and hair had become more salt and pepper then solid black. Other than that, he still look generally as he had when Ichigo was growing up. Isshin looked at his son, not wearing his normal goofy grin, but the stern look of a doctor.

"I've been expecting you… My own beloved son finally comes to see his dad just before Soul Society releases the hounds to come and drag him off." Isshin tone was low as he watched his son with a slightly guarded expression.

"Urahara told you I was back, didn't he?" Ichigo questioned quickly.

Isshin gave a dry chuckle. "No, my boy, I knew the second you arrived by your spiritual pressure. Karakura may be a ways away, but I memorized your spiritual signature long ago. Daddy should always know what his son is up to. Urahara however did fill me in on the finer details of your situation."

Ichigo quietly slid into one of the chair in front of his father's desk. "Soul Society is coming to get me, so this might be the last time we get to talk."

Isshin nodded. "So you came to say goodbye?"

"More or less." Ichigo replied honestly.

A slow smile slowly worked its way to the lips of Ichigo's father. "So she looks exactly like Rukia-chan?"

Ichigo paused as if not expecting the question before he nodded slowly. "Exactly like her, so much so that they could have been twins."

Isshin ran his hand over the stubble on his chin, taking in his son's words. After a minute or two of thinking, he rose from his desk and reached for his coat. "Come on Son! We shall go bond like real men and make you forget about your troubles for a while!"

Ichigo eyed his father suspiciously but rose to his feet anyways. "What does this bonding involve?"

Isshin's eyes seemed to light up. "Alcohol and enough of it to forget!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Don't you have to work or something old man?"

Isshin's grin only seemed to brighten. "Nope! I told my associate that I had urgent business and that I needed him to cover for me today. Now let's go boy!"

Ichigo didn't know if he should accept his dad's offer but figured it couldn't hurt. A chance to forget all the craziness in his life just seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up. Hopefully there was enough alcohol in this world to make him forget, if not for a little while.

* * *

"KON!" A voice nagged in the afternoon air. "I'm bored. Can't yours nose go any fasters?" There was a slight accent to the voice that slurred the words.

The large black dog turned to the shinigami that was following him, a look of annoyance crossing his face. His ears folded back as he strongly resisted the urge to bite her before continuing with what he was doing. He only restrained himself because he knew that she'd just complain about being bit. Why he got put in this situation with her was beyond Kon's comprehension, but he had a job to do and he was going to see it through.

"Shuddup! We are getting closer!" Kon snapped as he turned his attention back to the ground and inhaled. "Geez your worse than a two year old…"

"Hows close?" Kon's partner asked, her sickly sweet grin never fading.

Kon didn't bother to respond, knowing that if he did he'd just get more infuriated with his partner. Instead he kept his nose to the ground taking in the familiar reiatsu trace that he had been following for a while now. Time had aged for him as well as the rest of the crew that fought in the Winter War. His plushie body had been thrown away long ago and Kon started to get the respect he had always deserved. Instead of the plushie, Kon had seen many bodies, but the body of a large black German shepherd was his most current. It had been crafted by Urahara and though it was far from an actual human body, it had definite advantages. Its ability to sniff out spiritual ribbons better than even the most skilled Shinigami Captain was handy, and the increased endurance and steely hollow cleansing bite was nice, but what Kon loved the most was all the women that absolutely adored him because he was a dog. He got to spend more time in the arms of goddess-like women crushed by twin peaks because he was a canine then he would if he was human.

As his nose followed the trail of reiatsu Ichigo had been leaving all over the city, Kon couldn't help but get distracted by the familiar feel of reiatsu that seemed to be the constant companion to Ichigo's signature. At first he had thought that this feeling was nothing more than a figment of his imagination, but the longer he followed Ichigo's spiritual ribbon, the more he became convinced that this was no trick of the mind. After all if his nee-san's scent was here, it would make sense that it wouldn't be far from Ichigo's. This would explain why Ichigo hadn't returned to Soul Society. The only problem with this was that Rukia was dead so what would she be doing here… Kon had watched her pass away and had watched Ichigo fall apart soon afterwards. With his curiosity peeked, Kon turned down a street following the scent when his curiosity suddenly got more than it expected coming down the road. It was a sight that caused Kon to freeze in his tracks.

"Ouch, Kon why yous stop? Yous lose Ichigo-sama's trails?" Kon's partner asked as she ran into him after the dog froze.

"No way…" Kon whispered as he saw Rukia walking down the street walking with someone that he didn't know. "Nee-san!"

Kon's partner looked down the street where the dog had been staring, a look of disbelief crossing her face. After a few seconds had ticked by, Kon's paws thawed from where they had been frozen to the ground and he took off like a rocket towards the girl walking down the street. Rukia didn't quite know what to do about the large black dog running her way. It was only some sort of primal reaction that saved her from being run down by the large dog. In an instant, Rukia shifted her weight to her left foot, swung her body around, and brought her right leg up to heel drop the dog without missing a beat. Kon was sent crashing to the ground under the foot of his raven haired sister.

"Yep… That's my Nee-san…" Kon muttered as his body ached all over with Rukia looming over him.

"You just pwned a talking dog… Is that Shinigami teaching you to be a ninja as well?" Airi commented next to Rukia as she shifted her school bag.

Rukia rolled her eyes and stepped back from Kon. "Alright, who are you?"

Kon looked up at Rukia. "You don't know who I am?" He slowly rose to all four paws. "Nee-san what a cruel joke! It's me, Kon!"

Rukia eyed the talking dog for a moment, then the shinigami that ran up to stand next to the dog. "I'm afraid you got me confused with someone else." With that Rukia turned and started to walk off down the street.

Kon blinked in a confused manner as he watched Rukia take off before he looked up at his partner. She stared after the teen, her normal cheerful smile replaced by a thin line. Slowly her eyes turned to Airi who seemed more interested in the pair then Rukia had been. Airi sighed, glancing after her sister before turning and following after Rukia. Kon snorted and moved to follow the two teenagers.

"Come on Kasumi, something tells me they know where Ichigo is…" Kon called over his shoulder to his partner.

"Hai…." Kasumi responded before following after the black dog, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

Rukia glanced back at the dog as it followed them, a bit on edge that she was being followed. Sure something seemed familiar about Kon, but she knew well enough that the presence of other shinigami in the area could only mean that Ichigo was now being hunted to be brought back to Soul Society. That was something she didn't want, because she hadn't yet fully figured out what her feelings for the orange haired moron were. Turning around she stopped to look at Kon and Kasumi, her hands falling to her hips.

"Is here a reason you're following me? I already told you that you have the wrong person." Rukia shouted at the two.

Kon's ears twitched. "We are looking for someone! I'm sure you know him, he's loud and obnoxious. Ridiculously over protective of those around him, and he's got orange hair."

Rukia scoffed. "I don't know anyone like that."

Kon shifted watching Rukia. He knew she was lying because the reiatsu trails didn't lie, but why would she be hiding that she knew him? Taking a few steps forward, his nose sorted out the spiritual ribbons in the air as he tried to reaffirm that Ichigo's signature was thick with Rukia's. It was at that moment he realized that not only did the two signatures seem to be close to one another, they mixed together. Spiritual pressures don't mix like that unless…

"He gave his powers to you!" Kon exclaimed in sudden realization.

There was a sudden switch in both teenagers' demeanors as if Kon had suddenly figured out a secret that could be the death of both of them, for it very well might be. Instantly both girls were on guard as Airi slipped in front of her sister, a Quincy bow aimed directly at both the dog and the shinigami. Rukia reached behind her, pulling out two silver tubes as she got ready for battle. Kon was a bit shocked at how both girls suddenly reacted and was even more surprised when Kasumi slipped in front of him. Her eyes became empty as a zanpakuto flashed into her hand, the symbol of the Kuchiki clan hanging as a tassel off the pummel of the blade. Kon knew that he needed to defuse the situation fast or things were about to get rather ugly.

"Kasumi, stand down." Kon quickly ordered before looking at the girls. "Look we don't mean either of you harm."

Kasumi's blade disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and she took a relaxed stance, the goofy grin returning to her face as she was told to stand down. It was almost like night and day, but it was something that Kon was use to from the Kuchiki clan personal guard. As Kasumi relaxed, both teens seemed to relax slightly as well, but they kept on eye on Kon's partner, ready if she suddenly attacked again.

"We are looking for Ichigo because he needs our help. There are people looking for him and we came to warn him about what is going on in soul society." Kon tried to reason, looking between the two teenagers nervously.

"How do we know that we can trust you?" Airi demanded her bow still aimed at them.

Kon took a deep breath. "We are members of the Kuchiki clan"

Airi didn't seem too convinced. It was only after Rukia stepped up and put her hand on Airi's shoulder did all of the Quincy's fury leave. Lowering her Quincy weapon, it quickly fizzled out of existence. Rukia lingered by Airi's side for a few more heart beats before she felt the Quincy relax. It was only after most of her sister's tension left her body did Rukia turn and look at the two members of the Kuchiki clan. She knew what the Kuchiki clan was from Ichigo, but her trust of the two strangers in front of her came from something else deep in her soul.

"I'd take you to him, but he didn't come to school this morning. I'll bring you to my place. Hopefully he is still there." Rukia's tone was low as she headed towards her house.

Kon's ears perked before pick up his pace. Stepping up to Rukia's side, Kon quickly matched her pace. "So…." Kon started.

Rukia looked down at the dog. "I know I look like her don't I? Ichigo's dead wife…"

Kon's ears folded back as he looked at the teenager. "Yeah you do. It's like seeing a ghost… Who are you?"

Rukia sighed. "Let me get back to you on that question, I'm kind of confused about that myself."

"Confused? How could someone not know who they are?" Kon asked, a bit of concern echoing in his voice.

Rukia didn't respond. She only quickened her pace, the cold shoulder was more than enough to tell Kon he had hit on a touchy subject. That didn't stop the millions of question that rested just on the tip of his tongue. He mostly just wanted to know who this girl was and why did she look so much like his nee-san. Hopefully Ichigo would have more answers for him. If they caught up with Ichigo. It wasn't long before Rukia turned and headed up the drive way of a rather nice looking house. Kon continued to follow the teen with Airi following them and Kasumi taking up the rear. Rukia stepped into the house discarding her shoes at the door before moving further into the home.

"Mom?" was the only call Rukia needed to make before Orihime appeared from the kitchen, a soft motherly smile playing on her lips.

"Hello, Hunny," Orihime warmly addressed her child before her eyes fell upon the large black dog. "I don't think your father would approve of any more pets."

"MY TWIN PEAKED GODESS OF THE VALLY HAS REAPPEARED BEFORE MY EYES!" Kon suddenly spewed unable to resist that side of him even in the seriousness of the current situation.

Again as if acting on some dormant instinct, Rukia reacted to the dog's sudden outburst in a rather violent manner. Rukia's foot came up again, this time colliding with the dog's side. The force of the impact sent him into the wall on the other side of the living room. Rukia could only blink in the aftermath of the attack wondering what had spurred her to so ruthlessly attack Kon like that, but she really had no control on her sudden reaction. Kon slowly rose to his feet, a cough echoed from his chest as Kasumi who had just stepped into the room snickered under her breath.

"The boss warned ya not ta be chasin' tail likes that, Kon. Nice kick persons that looks like Ichigo-sama's wifes." Kasumi grinned.

Kon scowled, glaring at his partner with a death stare. Orihime eyes widened slightly in surprise at her daughter's sudden assault of the dog before things clicked in her head. A sigh echoed from her lips as her smile returned. The mother of three crossed the room and knelt down next to Kon. Orihime reached forward to pat the modified soul on the head.

"Hello, Kon, I take it you are looking for Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked running her hand behind the dog's ears.

Kon straightened himself out and looked at Orihime. "Yep, you know where the baka is? We are supposed to get him asylum within the Kuchiki estate."

At that Orihime's smile faded before she stood up again. There was a sadness that passed in her eyes that everyone in the room easily picked up. "He left this morning. Rukia-chan he left you a letter it's on the kitchen table, I think you should read it."

"Left?" Rukia's words mirrored the confusion that played on her face. Quickly she excused herself from the room and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Rukia…?" Kon muttered before looking up at Orihime. "Her name is Rukia?"

Orihime looked at the dog. "It's a long story, Kon. Basically, we believe that she is a reincarnation of the Rukia you used to know."

Kon's brow knitted together as he absorbed Orihime's words. "This must be killing Ichigo…"

Orihime took a deep breath. "You'll have to see for yourself when you find him…"

Kon could only nod. He couldn't begin to imagine what Ichigo must be going through being so close to Rukia's reincarnation. He had seen quite a few people in love during his existence, but even he couldn't deny that there was something special with Ichigo's and Rukia's relationship. A fact that became all too evident when Rukia died and how much it seemed to erase Ichigo's soul. If it wasn't for Ichigo's son, Kon honestly believed that Ichigo would have faded out of existence just as Rukia had done when she died. The urgency to find Ichigo suddenly seemed to become a much weightier task, as Kon felt spurred to find him faster.

"That bastard!" Rukia's thunderous voice seemed to make the walls of the house shake and a cold shiver run down Kon's spine.

Stepping into the living room, Rukia looked torn between anguish and pure disgust. Still, the look of pure disgust seemed to be slightly overriding. Crumbling a piece of paper in her fist, Rukia stared venomously down at it, as if she blamed it for the anguish it was causing her. All eyes where upon her as she threw the paper to the ground and turned in the direction of her mother and Kon.

"We have to find him! That idiot is going to turn himself in and get himself killed!" Rukia exclaimed.

Somehow this didn't really surprise Kon, after all Ichigo was known for having a selfless nature. Kon wouldn't put it past the former substitute shinigami to sacrifice himself for anyone he cared about and Ichigo had to care about this new Rukia. After all who could turn their back on anyone that looked so close to someone they dearly loved?

"Well I guess that's our cue to exit stage left, come on, Kasumi. If Ichigo left here this morning, then we at least have a starting point to track him with." Kon put his nose to the air inhaling deeply. "We'll catch up with him before those hunters get him."

"Roger that!" Kasumi smirked. "I got yours back!"

Kon turned to head out. "Thanks for the info, Orihime-chan!" With that, the dog headed towards the door following a spiritual trail.

"Wait!" Rukia suddenly protested. "I'm coming with you guys!"

Kon turned back to look at Rukia. "You're not going to be able to keep up with us like that…"

Rukia looked at the pair with a bit of desperation in her eye. "I need to go with you."

Orihime gave a long sigh before she stepped up to her daughter. "Rukia-chan, I know I can only ask you to be careful so can you please take my words to heart?"

"He needs me, Mom…" Rukia whispered the desperation still in her voice.

Orihime nodded, a sad smile playing on her lips. The mother didn't say anything more before she put her hands up to the Shun Shun Rikka. The blue flower hair pins instantly responded, starting to glow a deep bluish color before breaking apart into six fairy-like creatures that encircled Orihime. Lowering her hands, she held her palms out towards her daughter, causing the fairies to suddenly rush at Rukia. Rukia felt a slight pressure on her chest as she was assaulted by all the fairies at once before she found herself on the ground. She no longer contained within her human body, but was now a full shinigami. Orihime caught her daughter's body as her fairies turned back into the pair of blue flower pins.

"How did you do that?" Rukia asked as she got to her feet.

Orihime set her daughter's body down on the couch. "My ability is to reject things, so rejecting a spirit from a body isn't out of the range of my powers. Go, Rukia, but please be careful."

Rukia suddenly stepped up to her mother and threw her arms around her in a hug before stepping away. "Let's go find Ichigo!"

"I'm coming too, Rukia." Airi moved into the living room donned in full Quincy attire.

Rukia smirked at her sister. It was rare that Airi actually got to get dressed in such flamboyant garb and Rukia knew firsthand how much wearing such a costume was part of the Quincy tradition. Her father at times refused to use his powers unless he could change. Kon nodded to the Quincy before taking off, his partner trailing a few steps behind him.

"Love you, Mom." Airi called affectionately to Orihime before she and Rukia took off after the pair.

Orihime watched her daughters head out before she shook her head. "History really is repeating itself…"


	12. Chapter 12

Next chapter, enjoy. Shouts go out to my beta reader **BeccaBaby**. She is made of awesome as normal.

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Ichigo took a deep breath as he stepped out into the cool night air. The chill in the air instantly had a bit of a sobering effect on his body as it soaked into his senses. For the past three hours he and his father had been recalling old times while drinking his worries away. Not that Ichigo had consumed that much liquor. He had only taken enough to gain a slight buzz from the beer he had drunk. His dad on the other hand had consumed enough to fell a horse, but as his dad staggered to his side, Ichigo had to admit he was impressed how well Isshin held his liquor.

Their chat had given Ichigo quite a bit of insight into what life had been like while he had been up in soul society for the past couple of years. He got details about his sisters and how well both of them were doing. He was told about the practice and about his nephews and nieces. Yuzu had three kids, two girls and a little boy. As for Karin, she only had her one daughter which she doted on. Ichigo never thought Karin would have kids, but people change and it was good to know that his sisters were doing good. His father had called them half way through their conversation and even if he couldn't see both of them in person it was heart lifting just to hear their voices.

"Too bad our conversation had to be cut short." Isshin huffed as he stepped up to his son's side.

It had been a pity, but Ichigo wasn't really being all too discreet with his spiritual pressure. He wanted the hunters to find him and not Rukia's trail. He had vowed to himself to let nothing bad happen to her and he would keep that simple vow no matter what happened to him. Shrugging to his dad, Ichigo glanced up just as he saw a dark figure move across the roof tops.

"My fault, Dad… My fault." Ichigo said as he felt the hunters draw closer.

"You want me here, or should I take off?" Isshin asked as the father and son team started down the street as if not bothered in the least that they were being hunted.

Ichigo paused at the question before he looked up at the dark figure that suddenly appeared in their way cutting him off from moving any further. "Up to you, Dad." Ichigo offhandedly commented as his eyes fell upon the figure in front of him, knowing who it was even with the dark hood covering him. "Hello, Byakuya, why am I not surprised that you have come to take me?"

Reaching up Byakuya removed his hood, letting it fall back to rest upon his shoulders. Instantly Ichigo felt himself under the pressure of Kuchiki Byakuya's steely grey eyes. Ichigo returned his gaze, not at all intimidated by the head of the Kuchiki. Having been the brother-in-law of Byakuya for many years, such a look was almost expected from the Kuchiki head. Isshin, much like his son, felt no pressure within Byakuya's stare and committed himself to stay there to watch his son's fleeting last moments. If anything, Isshin just wanted to see with his own eyes what was going to happen to his son now that soul society had caught up to him.

"I am head of the detention squad, and I have come to detain you, Captain Kurosaki-Kuchiki Ichigo." Byakuya's voice held a commanding tone within it and it was clear that it was all business with him.

That was something Ichigo could admire even in light of what was happening. Byakuya always maintained a level of professionalism. Though the fact that Byakuya had called him Kurosaki-Kuchiki made Ichigo twitch slightly. No one else called him by that name unless they were being completely serious or formal with him. "Detain away, Captain Kuchiki Byakuya," Ichigo replied keeping his voice calm and level before his eyes shifted towards the shadows of the alley behind the bar they had been in moments ago. "You know you should at least say 'Hello' to your grandfather. I thought you had more manners, Dai…"

To Ichigo's left the shadows seemed to shift before another hooded figure stepped out onto the street. Not brothering to waste any time with secrecy the new figure reached up and removed his hood. Ichigo felt a signature set of violet color eyes level off against his own dark hazel. Daisuke definitely did look like his father in some aspects, the obnoxiously color hair they both shared being one of those common grounds. Daisuke's hair was longer then his father's, able to span down to his mid back when he didn't keep it up in a loose braid. Daisuke's long hair was something that his uncle had talked him into at a young age. Ichigo hadn't minded it, but to him, there was something a bit feminine about long hair. As far as personalities go, Daisuke seemed to be more of a strange mix between Isshin and Byakuya then of Ichigo or Rukia. The boy was fairly light hearted once someone actually got to know him, but when meeting people, or talking to people that should be respected, the stiff training he was going through to succeed Byakuya as head of the Kuchiki clan showed.

"Sorry, Father… Hello, Grandpa." Daisuke's tone was warm, but not overly so.

Isshin smiled at his grandson. "It's good to see you again, boy."

"Who did you give your powers to Captain Kurosaki-Kuchiki Ichigo?" Byakuya took a step towards Ichigo, his voice as smooth and business-like as ever.

Ichigo offered Byakuya a small smirk as a symbol of defiance. "You really think I'd tell you that?"

No emotion played across Byakuya's cold face as he listened to Ichigo's rebuttal. "Very well then, I assume you will come without a struggle."

"Take me away." Ichigo responded.

Thrusting out his hands, Ichigo offered his palms to Byakuya. The sooner he could get out of here the better the chance Rukia would have of never being discovered. Byakuya seemed to take the movement as his complete surrender and reached to his side to grab his Zanpakuto. Ichigo was certain he was clear when a dark figure dashed forward and the sound of swords clashing sang in the air like a bad omen. Byakuya's blade reacted more on instinct to block and push back his attacker. It was only as Byakuya's attacker was thrown back skidding to a stop in front of Ichigo did the fifth division captain's chest suddenly well with fear.

"Sorry, Shinigami, but Deathberry isn't going anywhere with you!" Rukia's statement was bold as she leveled off Sode No Shirayuki in Byakuya's direction.

Byakuya remained still for a heart beat or two, his body statue-like as only his eyes reacted to the sight of his attacker. It was rare that someone surprised the great Byakuya and Ichigo could honestly count the number of times on one hand that he had seen that surprised look on Kuchiki Byakuya's face. Slowly, Senbonzakura lowered from its defensive potion as Byakuya stared at the teenager in front of him. Shock slowly melted into disbelief before it returned to his normal look of cool indifference. Byakuya wasn't the only one reeling at the sight. Though Daisuke had only seen pictures of his mother, there were enough pictures around his area of the estate to give the youth a good mental picture of his mother.

"Impossible." The words rang from Byakuya's lips as he brought Senbonzakura back up to a defensive stance.

Rukia kept Ichigo to her back as he stared down Byakuya. "Let me guess, I remind you of someone?"

Byakuya returned the stare, but even Ichigo could see the hesitation in both his blade and stance. Byakuya's and Rukia's previous relationship had been rocky at the start, but by the time she had died, Ichigo could honestly say he knew of no two closer siblings. Even Ichigo's relationship with his two sisters was nothing compared to the bond Byakuya and Rukia once held. Seeing her here before him like this must have been the shock of the century for Byakuya, because Byakuya loved Rukia almost as much as Ichigo loved her.

"Rukia leave…" Ichigo pleaded. "I need to do this."

Rukia glanced behind her out of the corner of her eye. "You're out of luck, because I'm committed."

Ichigo snorted. "Shouldn't you listen to me? I don't want to be rescued!"

Rukia spun around as steely violet determination met burning mocha defiance. "You don't have a say in the matter! I'm rescuing you and that is that, you stubborn idiot, even if I have to drag you away kicking and screaming."

Ichigo and Rukia stared each other down and Ichigo couldn't help but recall the moment when the roles had been reversed and he was the one convincing Rukia that he'd be rescuing her. They stared each other down, neither one willing to submit to the other's will. To Ichigo, this was the worst case scenario, for Rukia was in very real danger. Flicking his gaze from the defiant teen, he looked at Byakuya who was watching the interaction with a very guarded expression. If things couldn't get any worse, Daisuke suddenly shunpoed from his spot as a rain of blue arrows poured from the heavens. Airi appeared next to Rukia's side, her Quincy bow raised against the two other shinigami.

Daisuke's expression went from shocked to curious as he looked at both teens and slid his hands behind his head in a relaxed fashion. Clearly he didn't perceive either as a threat. "You know you two are late." There was a bit of mild annoyance in his tone.

For a lingering second both Airi and Rukia thought Daisuke was talking to them before Kasumi appeared in front of Daisuke, low in a bow. "Sorrys Boss, but we gots a bits delayeds…We failed." Kasumi spoke as Kon also ran up to join Daisuke's side.

Daisuke sighed and looked at Byakuya. "Looks like we got to take Captain Kurosaki with us…" The boy's tone was more business-like then anything else.

"It would appear so, but it would also seem that we are meeting some resistance…" Byakuya nodded curtly.

At those words, both girls suddenly seemed to get more on guard. Airi drew back her bow, an arrow alit and ready to be fired as Rukia shifted and raised her weapon to Byakuya and Daisuke. Ichigo's mind worked overtime to try and figure out how to defuse the rising tension that suffocated the air. As much as he didn't want anything to happen to Rukia, he didn't want anything to happen to Airi either.

"You two don't interfere." Daisuke said, looking back at Kasumi and Kon before looking up at Byakuya. "Captain, I'll take the Quincy, if you want to take the other one?"

Byakuya remained impassive, but did nod in response.

"Don't hurt them!" Ichigo suddenly pleaded feeling a very real fear for both girls.

"What, you got no faith in us, Ichigo?" Airi asked glancing back at the shinigami behind her. "Oy, short shinigami, you think you can take me on?"

"Ouch, you just had to point out that I'm vertically challenged…" Daisuke sent a lazy glare in Airi's direction. "But I'm sure I can defeat you without even needing to use my zanpakuto or my hands."

A smirk rose on Daisuke's face that Ichigo knew well. It was that Cheshire cat grin that meant the boy was up to no good and had a plan. Ichigo had a sinking feeling in his gut and just as he opened his mouth to warn his son to behave, his words fell dead as a legion of arrows was suddenly sent Daisuke's way. Daisuke quickly shunpoed out of the way, Airi moved fast on his tail and they both quickly disappeared from sight. Ichigo knew Daisuke well enough to know he wouldn't kill Airi or harm her too much.

"Well I guess that just leaves you and me…" Rukia declared as she eyed Byakuya gripping her sword a bit tighter.

Byakuya only remained stoic, his sword lazily drawn at his side as he watched Rukia. He clearly didn't see her as a threat, or maybe he was still in slight shock at seeing her, Ichigo couldn't tell for sure with Byakuya. Rukia slid her foot back getting into a signature stance before she put her hand to the tip of her blade.

_'If you are thinking about stopping her, now would be a great time, King…' _The voice of Ichigo's hollow called from the depths of his conscious.

"Mae… Sode…"

Rukia hand started to travel down the blade, but it was soon stopped by Ichigo as he loomed over her in his spiritual form. His hand was curled around her wrist, preventing her from unleashing her shikai. His gigai sat motionless behind both of them, the skull glove still pressed firmly against its chest. Rukia shot a glare up at him, but it wasn't received. Ichigo took a deep breath before he felt Rukia tear her arm from his grip.

"Let me do this, Deathberry! Can't you see I can't lose you?" Rukia suddenly shouted, her words laced with desperation and anger.

Ichigo didn't say anything to Rukia as he stepped up between her and Byakuya. "Will you let me handle this?"

Byakuya slowly sheathed his blade. "Do what you want, but make it quick."

"Thank you." Ichigo reached behind him and drew forth Zangetsu.

The blade was dull in Ichigo's hands, showing that Zangetsu didn't approve of his current plan. Ichigo slid his foot back as his sword came to stand between him and Rukia. A look of surprise appeared in Rukia's violet eyes, clearly not expecting Ichigo to stand up against her. In flash, Zangetsu's blade arched towards Rukia with the clear intent to slice her had she not leaned back in time. Ichigo took a step forward and renewed his assault, this time causing Sode No Shirayuki and Zangetsu to meet in mid air with a ringing clash. Rukia was forced to take the defensive as Ichigo's hard strikes connected with her blade. They had sparred many times before, but only now did Rukia actually start to get a taste for why Ichigo was a shinigami captain and why he was a called a hero. Ichigo's strikes were lightning fast and every time Rukia's blade was raised to defend herself from the shinigami captain's strike, the power from the attack always made her small body slide back no matter how good of a stance she had gotten into.

"What are you doing?" Rukia cried as she barely was able to raise her blade up as Ichigo brought his down.

Ichigo didn't respond. He continued to press his attack causing Rukia to spin out of the way just as Ichigo's sword came down were she had been not more than a millisecond ago. Ichigo continue to unleash a stream of powerful attacks as if Rukia really was the enemy. Rukia continued to defend herself the best that she could, but she could feel herself weakening under the strain of Ichigo's powerful assault. Her arm was growing sore from the sheer power that Ichigo put behind his strikes and thus it was become sluggish. Finally Ichigo blade seemed to prey upon a split second of indecisiveness on Rukia's part and came down hard on Rukia's unguarded left flank, or the blade would have if Ichigo didn't still the zanpakuto at the last second.

"The opponents you now face will not still their blade, even with a face like yours Rukia. I don't want you to get killed over someone as worthless as me." Ichigo's words were cold as he stepped back letting Zangetsu become limp at his side.

Rukia stared at him like a lost child. "I can't lose you… Ichigo, I love you."

There is was, the cat was out of the bag. Rukia had said what she been too frightened to say for a while now. She had been confused by all of the emotions she had been getting from him and it was only their kiss a few nights ago that affirmed how she truly felt. Even once she realized what her feelings were, she had been afraid, afraid of something like this happening. Afraid that she would lose him or that he didn't feel the same way. She was only a ghost of the woman he once loved after all. Ichigo's face looked pained as he took another step back from her.

"You can't love me…You are too young to know what love truly is. And if it is love, then you are young enough to find someone else to love, Rukia." Ichigo's words were distant as he tore his eyes away from Rukia to look at the ground, his arm moving behind his back.

"How can you say that to me? Look at me, Ichigo!" Rukia's voice was elevated to fevered pitch.

Ichigo looked at the woman before him. "Good bye, Rukia…" The words came out soft before Ichigo raised his hand and pointed it at Rukia. ""Bakudō 61: Rikujōkōrō"

Byakuya's signature Bakudō spell crackled from the tip of Ichigo's fingers as six pillars of light slammed into Rukia, instantly binding her completely. Ichigo had been preparing the spell under his breath while they had been talking so that he could take Rukia by surprise and it had worked. A surprised look appeared on the teenager's face as she struggled within the light's binding. He had laced a bit of a silence spell into the kidou so that he wouldn't be able to hear Rukia pleas anymore. He was afraid that if he heard her say she loved him again he'd just fall apart. Ichigo forced himself to turn away from her just as Daisuke appeared next to him.

"The other one is bound on the rooftop but I dunno how long it'll hold her." Daisuke looked at Rukia, a sad look appearing on his face as he watched her fighting the binding spell.

"Thank you…" Ichigo whispered. "Both of you."

Byakuya turned around, sliding his sword into thin air as a Senkaimon gate opened under his command. "I would have the same difficulty raising my sword against someone who looks like her, just as you would Kurosaki-Kuchiki Ichigo…" Byakuya took a step back as the doors slid open and five hell butterflies flittered out through the open gate.

Ichigo glanced at the gate before turning his attention back to Rukia. "I'm sorry, Rukia, but this is the only way I can protect you. Don't follow me. The path I walk only leads to death." Ichigo accepted the heated look he got from Rukia before he stepped up to the gate. "Dad, could you release them after we are long gone?"

Isshin, who had been a silent observer through the whole scene, nodded to his son. "I can do that… Good bye, boy… Good bye, Dai."

"See ya, Grandpa. Kasumi, Kon, let's go." Daisuke paused for only a second longer to look at Rukia before he darted into open gate with both Kasumi and Kon following behind him.

Byakuya gave Ichigo a look that distinctly told him it was time to leave. Ichigo could only give Rukia one final look before he took a deep breath and stepped into the gate. Byakuya turned and followed Ichigo. The Kuchiki head was the only one out of the group not to cast a look back at Rukia as the doors slowly slid shut. The last thing Rukia saw as the gate closed was the sorrowful look Ichigo gave her.


End file.
